An Account of the Foxglove, and Some of its Medical Uses
With Practical Remarks on Dropsy and Other Diseases

A pioneering 1785 description of the medicinal applications of the foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) by the physician William Withering (1741–99).

William Withering (Author)

9781108075862, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 25 September 2014

236 pages, 1 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 1.4 cm, 0.31 kg

In 1775, the physician and botanist William Withering (1741–99) was informed of a folk cure for dropsy that had as its active ingredient the plant foxglove (Digitalis purpurea). Ten years later, after thorough trials on more than 150 patients, Withering published this monograph on the medicinal applications of the plant, not least to keep less experienced doctors from administering it to patients without the proper caution, given the plant's toxicity. Withering was the first doctor to employ foxglove as a remedy for congestive heart failure, which is now the primary disease treated by foxglove-derived pharmaceuticals, and the results from his trials broadly reflect those produced by modern physicians. Withering's first major publication, A Botanical Arrangement of All the Vegetables Naturally Growing in Great Britain (1776), which includes observations on the medicinal applications of British plants, is also reissued in this series.

Preface
Introduction
The introduction of foxglove into modern practice
Cases 1-156
Hospital cases
Communications from correspondents
Preparations and doses
Effects, rules and cautions
Constitution of patients
Practical remarks on dropsy and some other diseases.

Subject Areas: Botany & plant sciences [PST]