406 
GOSSYPIUM  HEEJBACEUM. 
"  Western  Journal  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,"  for  August,  1840, 
in  which  he  states  that  he  has  been  in  the  habit  of  employing  a 
decoction  of  the  root,  made  by  boiling  four  ounces  of  the  inner 
bark  in  a  quart  of  water  to  a  pint  measure ;  of  this  he  adminis- 
ters a  wine-glassful  every  twenty  minutes,  in  cases  of  protracted 
labor,  to  promote  the  contractions  of  the  uterus.  He  considers 
it  not  inferior  to  ergot  in  such  cases,  and  he  employs  it  largely 
as  an  emmenagogue  also.  He  further  states  that  it  is  habitually 
employed  by  the  negroes  of  the  South  for  bringing  on  abortion, 
successfully,  and  this  without  injury  to  the  general  health.  I 
may  remark  that  no  case  of  its  use,  in  any  form,  has  come  to 
my  knowledge,  through  the  section  of  the  South  in  which  I  re- 
side. Indeed  I  feel  confident  that  its  properties  in  this  regard, 
as  set  forth  by  Dr.  Bouchelle,  are  not  at  all  suspected  among 
the  masses,  either  whites  or  blacks,  in  my  vicinity.  The  small 
number  of  abortions  from  any  cause  with  us  confirms  this  impres- 
sion. Fifteen  years  have  now  elapsed  since  the  appearance  of 
Dr.  Bouchelle's  article,  and  yet  the  cotton  root  seems  not  to  have 
gained  favor  with  the  medical  profession,  and  indeed  his  experi- 
ments are  scarcely  remembered  at  all.  This  want  of  success  can- 
not be  attributed  to  a  deficiency  in  supply  of  the  raw  material, 
at  least  in  the  South.  Is  it  then  inert  and  useless  ?  or  was  the 
form  in  which  the  proposed  remedy  was  to  be  exhibited  so  objec- 
tionable as  thus  to  consign  it  to  oblivion  ? 
The  seed  of  the  cotton  has  commanded  more  attention  than 
the  root.  It  was  announced  many  years  ago,  that  the  seed  con- 
tained a  fixed  oil  in  large  quantity,  which  promised  to  be  valu- 
able ;  so  much  I  have  heard  reiterated  over  and  over  again  from 
my  boyhood  up  ;  but  have  yet  to  learn  of  any  valuable  use  which 
has  grown  out  of  the  discovery.  The  oil  I  have  never  seen.  A 
popular  notion  prevails  to  a  considerable  extent  with  us,  that  it 
is  used  in  the  adulteration  of  linseed  oil.  This  is  doubtless  an 
erroneous  idea,  but  often  serves  the  careless  painter  a  good  turn, 
in  bringing  the  oil  man  between  himself  and  his  dissatisfied  em- 
ployer, and  he  thus  escapes  on  the  plea  of  cotton-seed  oil.  The 
seeds  are  esteemed  a  valuable  stimulating  manure,  and  are 
chiefly  employed  for  this  purpose.  They  are  thrown  into  heaps 
and  allowed  "to  heat."  This  process  of  fermentation  sets  very 
soon,  if  the  seed  be  damp,  and  continues  until  the  vitality  of  the 
