Observations on the preparation, utility, and administration of the digitalis purpurea, or foxglove, in dropsy of the chest, consumption, hemorrhage, scarlet fever, measles, &c. including a sketch of the medical history of this plant, and an account of the opinions of those authors who have written upon it, during the last thirty years / by William Hamilton.
- Hamilton, William, 1772-1808.
- Date:
- 1807
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Observations on the preparation, utility, and administration of the digitalis purpurea, or foxglove, in dropsy of the chest, consumption, hemorrhage, scarlet fever, measles, &c. including a sketch of the medical history of this plant, and an account of the opinions of those authors who have written upon it, during the last thirty years / by William Hamilton. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.
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![7 OBSERVATIONS. The Digitalis cannot be given in enor- ■ mous doses with impunity, if it retains acti- vdf ' 'Vij ,137/OfT VfEii r/Il23I .21 ll vitv : and, in this state, a little experience ■ ■ : o : : ’ would have taught the Edinburgh and London Physicians it’s proper management. It may, therefore, be presumed that they employed (as is commonly done at a distance from the districts where this plant is naturally produc- ed) leaves possessed of very inferior power; and which are, notwithstanding what has - . . . been written upon this subject, usually ob- tained from the druggists in bundles, tied up together when green, and become mouldy. Those who expect any benefit from such preparations will find themselves entirely dis- appointed *. * “ When I first entered upon the use of the plant [the “ Digitalis] in Consumption, I did not even entertain “ a hope that it would afford relief. I disbelieved it's “ efficacy; and the issue of the first cases in which I “ prescribed it, confirmed my sceptism. My patients “ perished ! The failure I now ascribe to the circum- “ stance of the plant being of a bad quality, since it’s “ prominent effects were never apparent. Indeed I have “ the strongest conviction, that a want of due attention to “ the quality of the Digitalis, and to the quantity ad- B 4](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21300859_0027.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
