Digitalis : its mode of action, and its use : an enquiry illustrating the effect of remedial agents over diseased conditions of the heart : the Hastings prize essay of the British Medical Association for 1870 / by J. Milner Fothergill.

  • Fothergill, John Milner, 1841-1888.
Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Digitalis : its mode of action, and its use : an enquiry illustrating the effect of remedial agents over diseased conditions of the heart : the Hastings prize essay of the British Medical Association for 1870 / by J. Milner Fothergill. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    when thoroughly contracted. Soon the peristaltic action became more marked, the systole being longer and more perfect. Then the distension became less complete, es- pecially at the apex, which remained white and firmly contracted. Here and there were little sections, apparent- ly belonging each to a separate cardiac ganglion, which did not seem affected, and in the general contraction pouched out, contrasting in colour, too, with the other contracted and whiter portions: these are the crimson pouches of Dybkowsky and Pellikan. The action of the ventricle became almost vermicular in its slowness, and the diastole was most imperfect, till the ventricle came ultimately to a standstill in firm contraction, the heart being much diminished in size—and in size, shape and colour, much resembled an unripe apple-pip. The frogs did not seem much affected otherwise, the poison seeming to be confined, as regarded its action, purely to the heart. If released, they hopped about unconcernedly, nor did the removal of the contracted heart by scissors cause them any apparent inconvenience. They merely seemed to die ultimately from the arrested respiratory changes ; a slow mode of death in cold-blooded animals. In accor- dance with the observations of the above mentioned ex- periments, my results were uniform as regards the con- tracted condition of the ventricle. To other frogs were administered belladonna, caffeine, strychnine, and aconite. The first produced rather marked contraction, caffeine somewhat less so. Strychnine produced no perceptible effect, contrary to anticipation. Aconite produced para- lysis and arrest of the heart in diastole. A still more interesting series of experiments was performed. To some frogs, digitalis and aconite were administered, side by side, and the opposite actions contrasted. The experi-