(seq. 569)

562

Materia Medica

Diuretics

of "Anguina Pectoris" by the use of Digitalis the patients pulse was
full, but I bled and blistered him with little advantage, the
disease however yielded only to Digitalis although there was no
appearance of dropsy. Dr Cummin of Chester in England did not approve
of Digitalis in dropsy because he thought the disease to arise from
debility. It often however arises from debility and fever frequently attended
with an inflamitory diathesis, the blood which is drawn from dropsical
patients exhibit an inflamitory crust. Dropsy’s are often the consequence
of Intestinal Hemorrhage in which case the Digitalis is certainly usefull,
our medicine has certainly done much harm, but I think more has
been ascribed to it than was really the case. Patients have sometimes died
suddenly while under the use of Digitalis and their deaths have been
ascribed to the medicine although Dropseys themselves are the cause of
sudden deaths without the employment of Digitalis. It has been
successfully exhibitted by Dr Cullen in cases of Mania, and he thinks
it usefull when there is an excitement and increased tone of the Nervous
System Dr Ferrin employd it in infusion, it acts by the power
it exerts on the Heart and Arteries, he found it usefull in active
hemorrhage as Hemoptysis, thus it acts in Hemorrhage in the same
manner as Venesection, sometimes it induces nausea but this does