AmsIpt^8P76arm' }     Extr actum  Gossypii  Radicis  Fluid,  403 
superstitious  about  it),  all  the  knowledge  she  had  concerning  the  effects 
of  the  drug  in  question  ;  they  were  in  substance  as  follows  :  She  and 
those  of  her  fellow-servants  that  she  knew  of,  were  Li  the  habit  of 
gathering  the  root  while  the  "  bole  "  was  either  opened  or  being  opened, 
taking  the  bark,  often  the  entire  root,  cutting  in  fine  pieces,  and  boiling 
with  water  for  a  short  time,  expressing,  and  allowing  the  patient  to 
drink  freely  of  the  "tea." 
A  prominent  physician  of  our  city  (Atlanta,  Ga.)  states  that,  owing 
to  some  unpleasant  effects  following  the  use  of  ergot  in  a  case  of  labor 
(being  art  hour-glass  contraction  of  the  womb),  he  was  induced  to  try 
cotton  root ;  that  the  cases  in  which  he  has  employed  it  are  those  in 
which  he  finds  the  os  uteri  sufficiently  dilated  and  relaxed  with  regular 
yet  ineffectual  pains,  etc.,  or,  to  sum  up  the  whole  matter,  the  presence 
of  every  indication  of  labor,  except  the  expulsive  power  ;  and  that  in 
these  cases  he  has  ever  found  the  cotton  root  to  fulfill  every  indication^ 
In  the  latter  part  of  1870  he  employed  it  in  the  casess  of  two  mothers 
of  several  children,  who  informed  him  that  they  had  never  passed  their 
previous  confinements  in  less  than  36  or  48  hours,  but  neither  one 
was  then  in  labor  more  than  four  hours ;  that  result  he  can  safely 
attribute  to  the  use  of  the  cotton  root ;  he  has  also  employed  it  suc- 
cessfully in  the  sharp,  cutting  pains  which  trouble  and  worry  some 
women  several  days  and  sometimes  weeks  before  regular  labor  sets  in. 
He  administers  the  root  in  the  form  of  fluid  extract  or  tincture,  when 
he  can  get  a  reliable  preparation  ;  but  so  difficult  has  it  been  to  procure 
them  that  he  often  had  to  resort  to  a  decoction,  which  he  adminis- 
tered freely. 
The  fluid  extracts  made  in  accordance  with  the  directions  laid  down 
in  the  U.  S.  P.  and  those  that  I  have  seen  from  many  of  the  pharma- 
ceutical manufacturers  are  not  stable,  and  soon  become  very  unsightly, 
either  gelatinizing  and  completely  decolorizing  the  liquid,  or  forming  a 
deposit  of  a  peculiar  red  color,  without  depriving  the  liquid  entirely  of 
its  color.  This  latter  condition  seems  to  be  the  result  of  that  made 
from  the  fresh  root. 
My  first  experiments  were  made  with  the  fresh  bark  collected  in  the 
months  of  July  and  August,  just  six  or  eight  weeks  before  the  picking 
season  commenced.  Using  stronger  alcohol  as  the  menstruum,  the 
liquid  passing  through  had  a  pale-yellow  color,  but  on  standing  some 
time  gradually  changed  into  a  beautiful  red,  and  after  six  months  has 
