FOX-GLOVE. 203 



The Italians of the seventeenth century used 

 it familiarly to heal fresh wounds as well as to 

 cleanse old sores, and hence their proverb, Aral- 

 da^ tutte piaghe salda. Aralda (Fox-glove) salveth 

 all sores. 



Dr. Withering, who has the credit of bringing 

 the attention of our medical practitioners to the 

 notice of this plant, observes that in dropsical 

 cases it seldom succeeds in men of great natural 

 strength, tense fibre, warm skin, and florid com- 

 plexion ; or in a tight cordy pulse. If the belly 

 in ascites be tense, hard, and circumscribed, or 

 the limbs in anasarca be solid and resisting, we 

 have but little hope. On the contrary, if the 

 pulse be feeble, or intermitting, the countenance 

 pale, the lips livid, the skin cold, the swollen 

 belly soft and fluctuating, the anasarcous limbs 

 readily pitting under pressure of the finger, we 

 may expect the diuretic effects to follow in a 

 kindly manner. 



It is only within the present age that the con- 

 tinental physicians have used the Digitalis as an 

 internal medicine. But within these last few 

 years it has come into such high repute with the 

 Parisian apothecaries, that they frequently orna- 

 ment the outside of their houses with paintings 

 of this flower on their door-posts, or on the piers 

 between their windows. 



