Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
July  1,  1872.  J 
Cotton  Root. 
291 
powdered  bark  was  added  a  solution  of  caustic  potassa ;  there  was  no 
development  of  propylamin,  as  with  ergot. 
From  the  above  experiments,  it  would  seem  that  cotton  root  bark 
contains  no  substances  similar  to  those  of  ergot,  upon  which  its  thera- 
peutic value  rests,  nor  any  other  peculiar  alkaloid  or  proximate  prin- 
ciple except  the  red  resinous  mass  spoken  of,  or  a  substance  colorless 
as  in  the  original  percolate,  and  by  oxidation  changing  to  this  red 
substance.  This  red  matter  seems  to  be  a  peculiar  one — an  acid  resin, 
insoluble  in  alcohol,  chloroform  and  ether,  forming  colored  precipi- 
tates with  metallic  salts,  and  soluble  in  solutions  of  caustic  potassa 
and  soda. 
The  red  color  of  the  watery  solution  described  is  also  due  to  this, 
and  held  in  solution  through  the  solvent  action  of  organic  matter  pre- 
sent, often  the  case  in  such  solutions,  and  sometimes  with  difficulty 
gotten  rid  of. 
The  substance  that  produces  this  red-colored  acid  resin,  seems  to 
exist  in  all  parts  of  the  plant — in  the  flowers  and  in  the  seeds — the 
purplish  tint  at  the  base  of  the  petals  is  due  to  it,  and  in  the  seeds 
the  dark  red  spots  there  found,  and  which  gives  to  crude  cotton  seed 
oil  its  dark  color,  and  which  is  removed  in  the  process  of  refining  the 
oil  by  the  solvent  action  of  caustic  alkalies.  From  the  solubility  of 
this  substance  in  alkalies,  and  forming  well-marked  and  characteris- 
tic precipitates  with  metallic  solutions,  it  has  claims  to  be  classed  an 
acid,  and  would  propose  for  it  the  name  of  gossypic  acid. 
Having  satisfied  myself  as  to  the  nature  of  the  substance  that  com- 
poses the  precipitate  in  the  fluid  extract  of  cotton  root,  and  the  iden- 
tity of  the  precipitate  with  the  resinous  mass  that  was  left  in  the  still, 
as  mentioned,  I  would  say  that  it  is  impossible  to  prevent  the  same 
from  forming  in  it,  as  it  is  caused  by  a  chemical  change  taking  place 
in  a  peculiar  proximate  principle  in  the  plant,  insoluble  in  the  alco- 
holic menstruum. 
Whether  the  addition  of  glycerin  or  sugar  would  prevent  this,  I 
have  not  determined,  and  will  report  experiment  at  some  future  time. 
Query  :  Is  this  acid  or  the  substance  from  which  it  is  produced  the 
active  principle  of  cotton  root  ? 
The  cotton  seed  cake  (the  mass  left  after  pressing  out  the  oil)  con- 
tains more  or  less  of  it,  and  I  am  informed  by  Dr.  John  A.  Warder, 
that  cows  fed  upon  it  will  abort,  otherwise  it  is  a  nutritious  food  for 
cattle.  Some  of  the  substance  I  have  placed  in  the  hands  of  practi- 
tioners for  practical  test,  but  as  yet  have  had  no  report  concerning  it. 
Cincinnati,  May,  1872. 
