(seq. 565)

558

Materia Medica

Diuretics

but in my opinion it is a sedative & stimulant, and from observation
of its effects in Dr Mores inaugural Dissertation upon fox glove some
of his experiments are related, from one account it appears one of his
friends took grs iij [3 grains] of Digitalis his pulse being at 64 in 5 minutes it
was at 66 in (Min/Beets) 10/66, 15/68, 20/70, 35/72, 45/70, 55/68, 85/66, 100/62, 120/60, 135/53. In 15 minutes says
the Dr the patient perceived sense of heat at the stomach, in 25
minutes the pulse was evidently fuller, in 65 the pulse was diminish'd
in force, in 70 minutes there was a nausea, which combin’d the rest of
the day, the experiments of Dr More are conclusive and have been
repeated in England with similar effects, though I hold its primary
effects to be stimulating yet I think the medicine may be so managed
as to obtain its sedative effect, the most considerable of its properties is its
power over the heart and arteries its effects are more
perminent than that of tobacco. I now proceed to speak of the diseases in
which Digitalis is employ’d and first of its use in.

Dropsy. Dr Darwin and Dr Wethering were the first
persons who used Digitalis in Dropsy. Haller and Booerhave were
acquainted with it but would not employ it, it seems to be usefull
in every kind of Dropsy, but it is better adapted to some of them than
others, it is verry usefull in Hydrathorax and Anasarca, in Hydrathorax