501 



SCROPHULARINE.E. I. DIGITALIS. 



Tribe I. 



SCROPHULARIE'jE (this tribe contains plants agreeing 

 with Scrophularia in the characters indicated below.) D. Don, 

 in edinb. phil. journ. 19. p. 110. July, Oct. 1835. Calyx 

 deeply 5 -parted ; segments usually dilated, with scarious mar- 

 gins, imbricate in ajstivation. Corolla tubular or campanulate, 

 verrtricose ; limb 5-lobed, bilabiate. Stamens 4, didynamous, 

 often with the rudiment of a fifth. Cells of anthers confluent at 

 apex, inserted into a fleshy connective. Stigma capitate or 

 2-lobed. Capsule crustaceous ; dissepiment double, formed 

 from the bent-in margins of the valves, placentiferous on both 

 sides. Testa of seed thick, spongy, corrugated. Albumen 

 fleshy, nearly the length of the albumen. Herbs or shrubs, 

 mostly natives of Europe. Leaves opposite and alternate. 

 Flowers terminal, racemose, yellow or purple. This tribe 

 comes near to Verbascineoe in habit more than in character. 



I. DIGITAXIS (so named from the resemblance of the 

 flower to the finger of a glove, digitate, or from the adjective 

 digitalis, of or belonging to a finger. Parkinson says, some 

 thinking Foxglove to be a foolish name, do call them finger 

 flowers, because they are like unto the fingers of a glove, the 

 ends cut off.) Fuschs. hist. p. 892. Tourn. inst. p. 165. t. 73. 

 Lin. gen. no. 758. Schreb. gen. no. 1017. Juss. gen. p. 120. 

 ed. Usteri. p. 135. Gaertn. fruct. 1. p. 247. t. 53. Lindl. 

 dig. mon. Campanula, Trag. kreut. 2. cap. p. 125. Virga 

 regia Caesalp. pi. 348. Gesneria spec. Lin. hort. cliff, p. 318. 



LIN. SYST. Didynamia, Angiospermia. Calyx unequal. Co- 

 rolla tubular at the base, funnel-shaped : limb obliquely 4-lobed : 

 upper segment much shorter than the lower one or lip, and is, 

 as well as it imbricate in aestivation. The rudiment of the fifth ; 

 stamen hardly conspicuous. Stigma simple, or bilamellate. 

 Capsule ovate, acuminated. Herbs with alternate leaves, and 

 terminal racemes of secund, bracteate, drooping flowers. 



1. Corolla oblong-venlricose ; upper segment transverse. 

 Stamens shorter than the tube. 



1 D. PURPU'REA (Fuschs. hist. 892. t. 893. Lin. spec. 866.) 

 leaves oblong, rugose, crenated ; calycine segments ovate-ob- 

 long ; segments of corolla transverse, acute ; peduncles straight, 

 about equal in length to the calyxes. l/.H. Native of Eu- 

 rope, as of Denmark, Germany, Switzerland ; Britain, in sandy 

 gravelly soils near London ; it grows plentifully about Charlton 

 wood, Norwood, &c. Gaertn. fruct. 1. p. 247. t. 53. Curt. fl. 

 lond. fasc. 1. 1. 48. VVoodv. med. bot. 71. t. 24. Oed. fl. dan. 

 t. 74. Hoffm. et Link, fl. port. p. 22. Lindl. dig. t. 2. 

 Stev. et Church, med. bot. 1. t. 18 Blackw. t. 16. Riv. mon. 

 t. 104. Lob. icon. 1. p. 572. f. 1, 2 Mor. hist. sect. 5. t. 8. 

 f. 1. Plant pubescent. Corollas large, purple, marked inside 

 with dark purple spots, which are edged with white. The 

 colour, however, varies from dark purple to cream-colour and 

 white. 



Foxglove has been analysed by Destouches. Four ounces of 

 the dried leaves yielded successively 9 drachms of watery and 

 78 grains of alcoholic extract. The first was brown, smooth, 

 and of a consistence fit for making pills. The second had a 

 very deep green colour, a virose and disagreeable smell, the con- 

 sistence of tallow, but more tenacious, did not furnish ammonia 

 by distillation, and was not acted upon by acids. The ashes 

 contained salts of lime and potass. The effects of Foxglove 

 when taken into the stomach are to diminish the frequency of 

 the pulse, and the irritability of the system ; and to increase the 

 action of the absorbents, and the discharge by urine. In exces- 

 sive doses it produces vomiting, dimness of sight, vertigo, deli- 

 rium, hiccough, convulsions, collapse, and death. For these 

 symptoms the best remedies are cordials and stimulants. Inter- 

 nally Digitalis has been recommended. 1. In inflammatory 

 diseases, from its very remarkable power of diminishing the 



velocity of the circulation. 2. In active haemorrhages, and 

 phthisis. 3. In some spasmodic affections, as in spasmodic 

 asthma, palpitation, &c. 4. In mania from effusion on the brain. 

 5. In anasarcous and dropsical effusions. 6. In scrophulous 

 tumours. 7. In aneurism of the aorta, and hypertrophy of the 

 heart. Externally it has been applied to scrophulous tumours. 

 It may be exhibited 1. In substance, either by itself, or con- 

 joined with some aromatic, or made into pills, with soap or gum 

 ammoniac. Withering directs the leaves to be gathered before 

 the plant comes into flower ; he rejects the petioles and midrib, 

 and dries the remaining part either in the sunshine or before the 

 fire. In this state they are easily reduced to fine green powder, 

 which is given in doses of one grain twice a day, and the dose is 

 gradually increased until it acts upon the kidneys, stomach, pulse, 

 or bowels, when its use must be laid aside, or suspended. 2. 

 In infusion : the same author directs a drachm of dried leaves to 

 be infused for 4 hours in eight ounces of boiling water, and an 

 ounce of any spirituous water to be added to the strained liquor 

 for its preservation. Half an ounce, or an ounce of this infusion 

 may be given twice a day. 3. In decoction. Darwin directs 

 that four ounces of the fresh leaves be boiled in two pounds of 

 water, until they are reduced to one, and that half an ounce of 

 the strained decoction be taken every two hours, for four or 

 more doses. 4. In tincture, put one ounce of the dried leaves, 

 coarsely powdered, into four ounces of diluted alcohol : let the 

 mixture stand by the fire-side 24 hours, frequently shaking the 

 bottle, and the saturated tincture, as Darwin calls it, must then 

 be separated from the residuum by standing, or decantation. 

 Twenty drops of the tincture were directed to be taken twice or 

 thrice a day, but the dose is dangerous. The Edinburgh college 

 use eight ounces of diluted alcohol to one of the powder, but let 

 it digest seven days. 5. The expressed juice and extracts are 

 not proper forms of exhibiting this very active remedy. Wood- 

 ville and Duncan. 



Var. albiflbra ; flowers white. I/ . H. Native along with 

 the species. Gerard, emac. 790. f. 2. 

 Purp/e-fiowered, or Common Foxglove. Fl. Clt. PI. 3 to 5 feet. 



2 D. THA'PSI (Lin. spec. 867.) leaves oblong, rugose, crenated, 

 undulated, decurrent ; calycine segments ovate ; segments of 

 corolla ovate-roundish ; peduncles slender, arched, much longer 

 than the calyx. If. H. Native of Spain, Portugal, Savoy, 

 &c. Smith, exot. bot. p. 83. t. 43. Hoffm. et Link, fl. port. p. 

 223. t. 30. Lindl. dig. p. 10. t. 3. D. verbascifolia, Bocc. 

 mus. t. 85. D. Hispanica purpiirea minor, Tourn. inst. p. 165. 

 Barrel, icon. 1183. Plant tomentose, in habit much like D. 

 purpiirea. Corollas purple ; throat pale, marked with blood 

 red dots. 



Far. j3, intermedia (Lindl. dig. p. 11. t. 4.) stems simple, 

 taller ; segments of corolla obsolete. I/ . H. Native of Por- 

 tugal about Cintra and Grandola. D. purpurea, Tab. icon. t. 

 568. D. tomentosa, Hoffm. et Link, fl. port. p. 220. t. 20. 

 Sims, bot. mag. 2194. Besl. hort. eyst. ord. 1. fol. 2. f. 2. 



Mullien-\\ke Foxglove. Fl. June, Sept. Clt. 1752. B. 

 1818. PI. 2 to 4 feet. 



3 D. MI^NOR (Lin. mant. p. 567. syst. ed. 13. p. 470.) radical 

 leaves recurved to the ground, lanceolate, flat, denticulated ; 

 racemes few-flowered ; segments of corolla ovate-roundish, 

 dilated, quite glabrous :. superior one bifid ; peduncles 3-times 

 longer than the calyxes. 1,H. Native of Spain. Sims, bot. 

 mag. 2160. Lindl. dig. p. 12. t. 5, 6. D. Hispanica purpii- 

 rea, minor, Tourn. inst. p. 165. Stem glabrous, or downy. 

 Leaves glabrous above, downy beneath : upper ones quite entire. 

 Corolla purplish, large for the size of the plant, marked by many 

 spots inside. 



Smaller Foxglove. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1789. PI. i to 

 | foot. 



4 D. AMBI'GUA (Murr. comm. goett. p. 6. Lin. syst. p. 562.) 



