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...
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 fox...
