Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics
William Withering and the Treatment of Dropsy
In 1785, the British physician, William Withering (1741-1799), published his landmark monograph on the treatment of dropsy, a pulmonary and systemic edema which we would recognize today as congestive heart failure. Presented with a recipe of various herbs used as a folk medicine, he recognized the purple foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, as the important ingredient, and he spent the next ten years evaluating its therapeutic value. In the protrait, he holds a sprig of foxglove in his left hand. Digitalis, the purified agent from Dr. Withering's foxglove extracts, remains a potent drug in treating heart failure.
A somewhat tongue-in-cheek description of foxglove's discovery is also available. A striking photograph of foxglove blossoms may be found at the Texas A&M University Vascular Plant Image Gallery.
The illustration is from the collection of online images available through the National Library of Medicine.