Cotton Root Bark :: Gossypium herbaceum, Linn.

Cotton root bark was introduced into medicine by Bouchelle (A. J. M. S., August, 1840), who stated that it was habitually resorted to by the slaves of the south as an abortifacient. His favorable opinion has been confirmed by various southern practitioners, and Scott (T. G., 1911) has shown experimentally that cotton root bark increases the contractions and tonus of the uterus in the lower animals, although it is somewhat less powerful than ergot. It is used not only to strengthen the contractions in uterine inertia during labor, but also in the treatment of metrorrhagias, especially when dependent on fibroids. Bellany, of Georgia, asserts that the root should be gathered as late as possible in the fall before frost. Bouchelle used a decoction made by boiling four ounces of the inner bark of the root in a quart of water down to a pint, of which he gave a wine glass full (60 mils) every twenty or thirty minutes.

UNITED STATES DISPENSATORY - 1918

Controversies Regarding Homeopathy

Homeopathy is a controversial area of CAM because a number of its key concepts are not consistent with established laws of science (particularly chemistry and physics). Critics think it is implausible that a remedy containing a miniscule amount of an active ingredient (sometimes not a single molecule of the original compound) can have any biological effect - beneficial or otherwise. For these reasons, critics argue that continuing the scientific study of homeopathy is not worthwhile. Others point to observational and anecdotal evidence that homeopathy does work and argue that it should not be rejected just because science has not been able to explain it.