The foxglove, "The old woman from Shropshire" and William Withering.

65: Cardioactive Steroids

The Ebers Papyrus provides evidence that the Egyptians used plants containing cardioactive steroids (CASs) at least 3000 years ago. However, it was not until 1785, when William Withering wrote the first systemic account about the effects of the foxglove plant, that the use of CASs was more widely accepted into the Western apothecary. Foxglove, the most common source of plant CAS, was initially ...

Digitalis and William Withering, the clinical investigator.

W ILLIAM WITHERING began to use digitalis for dropsical cases during 1775. The first recorded use of digitalis was on December 8 of that year when he administered a "decoction of fol. digital." to a man about 50 years of age who complained "of an asthma." As a result of the therapy, the patient "made a large quantity of water," " His breath gradually drew easier, his belly subsided, and in abou...

Medical topography of Upper Canada

influenced by Cullen, to the eight initial years of practice in Stafford. It was during this period, perhaps around 1770, that he seems to have taken up field botany seriously. In 1775, seeking a larger stage for his abilities, he was told by Erasmus Darwin of a promising opening in the nearest city, the then fast-growing Birmingham. There, he speedily prospered, to such an extent that eleven y...

[In memory of William Withering (1741-1799). On the 200th anniversary of the work, "An account of the foxglove and some of its medical uses"].

An account of the foxglove and its medical uses 1785–1985

The bicentenary of the publication of William Withering's Foxglove has been well and largely perceptively celebrated the world over, but the most permanent tribute comes in the form ofthis book by J. K. Aronson. Aronson is very well qualified for the job he has set himself. He is an eminent authority on the pharmacology and clinical practice involved, and he now shows himself to be a fine and m...