An Account of the Foxglove and some of its Medical Uses / With Practical Remarks on Dropsy and Other Diseases

by William Withering

CASE I.

Ann Willott, 50 years of age, became a patient of the Dispensary on the 11th of April 1783. She then complained of an enlargement of the abdomen, difficulty of breathing, particularly when lying, and costiveness. She passed small quantities of high-coloured urine; and had an evident fluctuation in the belly. Her legs were œdematous. Chrystals of tartar, squills, &c. had no effect. The 13th of June she took two spoonfuls of a decoction of Foxglove, containing three drams of the dry leaves, in eight ounces, three times a day. Her urine soon increased, and in a few days she passed it freely, which continued, and her breath returned.