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William Withering and the foxglove |
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Click here to view full image Digitalis pupurea or the common foxglove is a familiar wayside flower of early summer. It has long been known as a poison, but it wasn’t until the 1770’s that its use as a treatment for people suffering from heart failure (referred to as “dropsy” at the time) was observed. William Withering, a physician practising at Birmingham’s General Hospital, conducted a series of experiments on his patients which led to the publication of “An account of the foxglove and some of its medical uses; with practical remarks on the dropsy, and some other diseases” in 1785. The drug digoxin, which is derived from the foxglove is still used as an effective treatment for heart conditions. Birmingham City Archives holds the records of Birmingham General Hospital at the time when Withering worked there. Withering was also a member of the Lunar Society, a group of prominent scientists, industrialists and intellectuals who met on nights when there was a full moon (for easier travel in the days before street lighting). The group included Matthew Boulton and James Watt and also Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles). Darwin himself, also a physician, published on the subject of the use of the foxglove in medicine and eventually quarreled with Withering because of this. Many of the letters of members of the Lunar Society are also preserved at Birmingham City Archives in the Archives of Soho. Category: People , Process Institute: Birmingham Libraries Central Library
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