298 
Pharmacology  of  Cotton  Root  Bark. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1920. 
COTTON  ROOT  BARK. 
BLOOD  PRESSURE  EXPERIMENTS  ON  THE  CAT. 
Four  blood  pressure  experiments  were  carried  out  on  cats.  These 
animals  were  anaesthetized  with  acetoform.  In  one  case  0.2  Cc. 
per  Kg.  of  F.  E.  Cotton  R.  B.  caused  almost  no  effect.  In  the  other 
three  cases  o.i  and  0.2  Cc.  doses  per  Kg.  caused  an  abrupt  and  ex- 
tensive fall,  the  pressure  slowly  regaining  the  normal  height  or  slightly 
above  the  normal.    Following  is  an  example: 
The  foregoing  work  was  completed  about  June  i,  19 14.  The 
following  experiments  were  carried  out  during  the  spring  of  19 19. 
For  the  uterus  experiments,  fresh  samples  of  commercial  drug 
were  extracted  and  made  into  fluidextracts  by  the  N.  F.  method. 
The  isolated  uterus  is,  in  most  cases,  an  extremely  sensitive  organ, 
easily  influenced  by  the  chemical  nature  of  the  solutions  applied 
to  it.  Any  considerable  amount  of  acid,  alcohol,  or  astringent  princi- 
ple in  the  solution  applied  is  likely  to  impair  the  results  of  the  ex- 
periment. Any  substance  to  be  applied  to  the  structure  should, 
therefore,  be  in  a  clear,  neutral  or  nearly  neutral,  saline  solution. 
Such  a  solution  fully  representing  the  fluidextract  of  cotton  root  bark 
seemed  impossible,  for  any  extensive  change  in  the  menstruum, 
such  as  would  necessarily  occur  when  the  fluid  was  diluted  in  the 
Locke's  solution  surrounding  the  uterus,  caused  a  precipitation  of 
considerable  extractive  matter.  Such  a  mixture,  however,  with  its 
very  fine,  fresh  precipitate,  was  considered  preferable  to  a  suspension 
of  the  powdered  extract.  The  procedure  employed  was  to  dilute  the 
fluidextract  with  9  parts  of  saline  solution,  and  of  this  10%  mixture, 
the  doses  for  application  were  drawn  off.  These  doses  were  further 
diluted  from  50  to  100  times  when  introduced  into  the  Locke's 
solution  surrounding  the  uterus.  The  effect  of  any  astringent  matter 
in  this  dilute  solution  was  disregarded.  It  would  seem  to  be  very 
slight  if,  in  truth,  any  were  exerted.    According  to  the  work  of 
Pressure  at  start  
0.13  Cc.  per  Kg.  F.E.C.  injected. 
86  Mm. 
Pressure  1-3'  after  injection 
Pressure  5'  after  injection 
Pressure     7'  after  injection 
27  Mm. 
92  Mm. 
86  Mm. 
ISOLATED  UTERUS  EXPERIMENTS. 
