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ON  OLEUM  GOSSYPII. 
OLEUM  aOSSYPII— (COTTOlSr  SEED  OIL.) 
By  William  Henry  Weatherly,  of  Freehold,  N.  J. 
(An  Inaugural  Essay  presented  to  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  1861.) 
The  oil  of  the  seeds  of  Gossypium  herbaceum,  and  other 
species  of  the  genus. 
Sex,  SysL  Monadelphia  Poljandria.  Nat.  Ord. — Malva- 
cese." 
"  This  is  a  biennial  or  triennial  plant,  and  a  native  of  Asia;" 
it  is  extensively  cultivated  throughout  the  Southern  and  South- 
western States,  where  it  grows  luxuriantly,  frequently  attaining 
a  height  of  eight  or  ten  feet,  though  it  averages  but  five.  With 
us  it  is  an  annual  plant;  the  flowers,  which  are  of  a  variety  of 
colors,  first  appear  in  the  month  of  June;  the  plant  continuing 
to  blossom,  until  the  growth  of  it  is  checked  by  frost.  The  root 
consists  of  a  main  spindle,  ten  to  twenty  inches  in  length,  from 
which  numerous  rootlets  branch  off.  The  leaves  are  described 
as  being  «  five-lobed,  one  glandular  beneath  ;  lobes  round,  mucro- 
nate,  involucre  serrate;  stem  smooth."  At  present  the  plant  is 
cultivated,  almost  exclusively,  for  the  fibre,  which  is  found  firmly 
attached  to  the  seeds,  but  little  use  being  made  of  any  other 
portion.  The  picking  season  commences  about  the  middle  of 
August,  lasting  frequently  as  late  as  January  ;  the  fibre  is  stript 
from  the  seeds  by  the  process  of  ginning,  and  is  packed  in  bales, 
by  aid  of  a  screw  press,  when  it  is  ready  for  shipment.  This 
fibre  or  "  lint  is  the  only  portion  of  the  plant  ofl5cinal  in  our 
materia  medica.  It  is  used  as  an  application  for  recent  burns 
and  scalds,  also  in  the  preparation  of  collodion. 
The  root  has  been  spoken  of  by  several  writers  as  possessing 
emmenagogue  properties.  It  was  also  reported  as  being  much 
in  use  among  the  slaves,  for  the  purpose  of  producing  abortion  : 
this  I  believe  to  be  wholly  untrue.  During  a  clerkship  of 
eighteen  months,  in  one  of  the  finest  cotton-growing  regions  of 
the  South,  I  made  it  a  point  to  inquire  into  the  truthfulness  of 
this  report.  Not  one  of  some  twenty  physicians,  whom  I  asked, 
knew  of  a  single  instance  where  it  had  been  used  for  or  pro- 
duced this  effect.  I  also  inquired  of  a  number  of  overseers  on 
large  plantations,  whether  they  knew  of  an  instance  where  the 
