Origin. - The dried bark of the root of Gossypium herbaceum L. and of other species of the genus, indigenous in the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa. The plant has been cultivated in the United States and other countries from a very early period, many characteristic varieties having been produced.

Description and Properties. - It occurs in thin, flexible bands or quilled pieces, the outer surface brownish-yellow, with slight longitudinal ridges or meshes, small, black circular dots, or short, transverse lines, and dull, brownish-orange patches, from the abrasion of the thin cork; inner surface whitish, of a silky luster, finely striate; bast-fibers long, tough, and separable into papery layers; inodorous; taste very slightly acrid and faintly astringent.

It contains a fixed oil, a small quantity of tannin, sugar, and starch, a yellow resin, and, in the fresh bark, a pale-yellow chromogene, soluble in alcohol, which on exposure to air becomes red and resinous.

Dose. - 15-60 grains (1.04-4.0 Gm.) [30 grains (2 Gm.), U. S. P.J.

Antagonists and Incompatibles.- The same as for ergot. Synergists. - Ergot and its synergists.

Physiological Action. - Resembling ergot somewhat, but inferior in certainty of action.

Therapeutics. - Cotton-root bark is employed only for its action upon the uterus. An exception may possibly be in its use in the treatment of subinvolution and tumors of the uterus, in which cases it is less efficient than ergot. The drug is very unreliable, many pharmacologists claiming that it has no action on the uterus whatever.

Contraindications. - The same as for ergot.

Administration. - The fluidextract only should be employed.