Two hundred years of the foxglove.

INTRODUCTION 1985 marks the bicentenary of the publication of William Withering's account of his studies on the clinical use of digitalis.' The first part of the present article reviews the use of digitalis before Withering and also the impact that his work had on the use of digitalis in the next hundred years or so. The final two sections deal with work in the present century concerning the clinical use of digitalis and also its mechanism of action. It will become clear that, although an enormous amount of work has been done since Withering, both the therapeutic use and the mode of action are still controversial.