821 
DIGITALIS. 
veiny, wrinkled, underneath whitifh with pubefcence, 
gradually lelfening to both ends ; flowers in a long fpike, 
nodding, imbricate, all directed the fame way ; feeds dark 
brown, truncate at both ends. Native of Denmark, Ger¬ 
many, Swilferland, Britain, in fandy and gravelly foils : 
near London it grows plentifully about Char*ton-wood, 
Norwood, &c. It flowers from June to Auguft. 
The corolla is in general of a fine purple ; but it va¬ 
ries into different fliades of that colour, and is frequently 
white or cream colour. ParkinTon mentions varieties 
with blulh-colour and orange-tawny flowers, as well as 
white, both large and fmall. “ Some thinking fox-glove 
to be a foolifli name, (fays Parkinfonf) do call them Jin- 
ger-flouicrs, becaufe ..they are like unto the fingers of a 
glove, the ends cut off.” The common purple fox-glove 
has long been confidercd as a plant poffeffed of very pow¬ 
erful virtues. A drachm taken inwardly excites violent 
vomitings. It is certainly a very adtive medicine, and 
merits great attention ; and it is Angular that a plant to 
powerful in its operations fltould not fooner have been 
introduced into the modern materia medica. The coun¬ 
try people in Somerfetfliire are faid to have long been in 
the habit of tiling it, in decodtion, in fevers, to purge 
and vomit, which fontetimes arifes to a fuperpurgation. 
The Italians have a proverb concerning this plant, (by 
them called aralJa,) Aralda tutte piagheJalda , “ Fox-glove 
cures all fores.” Parkinfon fays that it is effedtual in 
the faHing-ficknefs, if two handfuls of it be boiled in ale 
with four ounces of polypody of the oak, and the de¬ 
codtion drunk by the patient: and that they who had 
laboured under that difeafe twenty-fix years, fo that they 
fell down twice or thrice every month, were perfectly 
refiored by the ufe of this decoction ; and did not fall 
into a fit for fourteen or fifteen months after. The dried 
leaves applied, or the juice made into an ointment, has 
been highly commended in ulcers, king’s evil, &c. as 
well as the bruifed flowers alfo made into an ointment 
with frefh butter. The diuretic effefts of fox-glove, for 
which it is now fo defervedly celebrated, and on which 
account, as well as for its other powers, it is fo much 
ufed in dropfical cafes, feems to have been firft afeertain- 
ed by Dr. Withering. Yet he obferves that it feldom 
fucceeds in men of great natural ftrength, tenfe fibre, 
warm fkin, and florid complexion ; or in a tight cordy 
pulfe. If the belly in afeites be tenfe, hard, and cir- 
cumfcribed, or the limbs in anafarca be folid and redd¬ 
ing, we have but little hope. On the contrary, if the 
pulfe- be feeble or intermitting, the countenance pale, 
the lips livid, the fkin cold, the fwollen belly foft and 
fluctuating, the anafarc.ous limbs readily pitting under 
preffure of the finger, we may expedt the diuretic effedts 
to follow in a kindly manner. In hydrothorax, or water 
in the cheft, ftriking proofs are faid to have been afforded 
■of the efficacy of fox-glove. The dofe of the dried leaves 
in powder is from one to three grains a-day ; but, if a 
liquid medicine be preferred, a drachm of the dried leaves 
is to be inf ufed for four hours in half a pint of boiling 
water, adding to the ftrained liquor an ounce of any fpi- 
rituous water. It is to be continued in thefe dofes till it 
either adts upon the kidneys, the ftomach, the pulfe, or 
the bowels. 
2. Digitalis minor, or fmall fox-glove : corollas ob¬ 
tufe, upper lip flightly two-lobed ; leaves even. Stem 
•even, fhorter by half than the foregoing. The flowers 
are very like thofe of digitalis purpurea in form, fize, 
and colour, but the dots of the palate are more copious 
and without the pale iris: the upper lip is more deeply 
two-lobed, the lower very obtufe, and the lateral feg- 
ments reflex : the anthers have ferruginous dots. It is 
a native of Spain, and is perennial. 
3. Digitalis thapfi, or Spanifli fox-glove : leaves de¬ 
current. This has the appearance of the firft fort. It 
feems to be a daughter of the firft fpecies by Verbafcum 
thapfus. It feldom rifes much more than a foot and a 
half high; the lower leaves are ten inches long, and 
Vol. V. No. 317, 
three broad in the middle. The flowers are fmaller than 
thofe of the common fort, and the fegments are acute. 
It grows naturally in Spain,, whence Mr. Miller received 
the feeds; it was cultivated by him in 1759; flowers 
from June to Auguft, and is perennial. 
4. Digitalis lutea, or fmall yellow fox-glove: calycine 
leaflets lanceolate, corollas acute, upper lip bifid. This 
has very long obtufe leaves near the root; the ftalk is 
fmall, and riles from two to three feet high ; the lower 
part of it has fmooth leaves growing clofe together, 
about three inches long and one inch broad, ending in 
obtufe points : the upper part of the ftalk, for ten inches 
in length, has fmall yellow flowers, .clofely ranged on 
one fide of it, Jtaving a few very fmall acute leaves placed 
between them, lituated on the oppofite fide of the ftalk. 
It is diftindt from the next fpecies, in having the leaves 
fmooth, harder, and narrower ; the flowers fmaller, thick¬ 
er in the fpike, pale, not fpotted, the fegments of the 
calyx and corolla acute, triangular, thofe of the latter 
five almoft equal, the upper one manifeftly bifid. Peren¬ 
nial. Native of France, Swilferland, in the government 
of Aigle, about Geneva, Silefia, Garniola, Piedmont, 
about Sal rno, and Naples. Cultivated in 1629. It 
flowers in July and Auguft. 
5. Digitalis ambigua, or greater yellow fox-glove: 
calycine leaflets lanceolate, helmet of the corolla emar- 
ginate, leaves pubefeent underneath. This has long 
fmooth-veined leaves at bottom; the ftalk is ftrong, two 
feet and a half high. It differs from the foregoingin 
having the flowers much larger; though fcarcely diffe¬ 
rent in fpecies, yet all writers choofe to diftinguifh it 
principally on this account. It is more tender than the 
firft fpecies, and fomewhat vifeid. The leaves fmooth 
on their upper furface, fubpubefeent on the low'er, with¬ 
out any of the anaftomoling veins, the edge very flightly 
and fharply ferrate. Native of Germany, Swilferland, 
Geneva, Auftria, Piedmont; flowering with the former. 
Cultivated in 1396, by Gerarde. 
6. Digitalis ferruginea, or iron-coloured fox-glove: 
calycine leaflets ovate, obtufe, fpreading ; lower lip of 
the corolla bearded. Stem ftridt, even, fix feet high. 
Leaves beneath hairy and hirfute, whitifh, the rib (harp 
and nerved, above fmooth and dark green, on the edge 
having a few fmall teeth. Flowers in June or July. 
Native of Italy, and about Conftantinople. Cultivated 
1 59 7 • . 
7. Digitalis obfeura, or willow-leaved fox-glove: leaves 
linear-lanceolate, quite entire, growing together at the 
bafe. Stem underflmibby, with a few oppolite brandies. 
Leaves, when it does not flower, crowded, but on the 
flowering-ftem alternate. Native of Spain ; flowers in 
July and Auguft. 
8. Digitalis Canarienfis, or Canary flmibby fox-glove: 
calycine leaflets lanceolate ; corollas two-lipped, acute ; 
ftern fhrubby. This plant has a ftirubby ftalk, four, and 
fometimes five or fix, feet high, dividing into feveral 
branches. Leaves lanceolate, rough, near five inches 
long, and two broad in the middle, gradually decreafing 
to both ends, having a few ftiort ferratures on their edges, 
placed alternately on the branches, each of which is ter¬ 
minated by a loofe fpike of flowers, near a foot in length ; 
they are of an orange colour intermixed with yellow, and 
are ftiaped fomewhat like the flowers of acanthus, ft 
grows naturally in the Canary iflunds, whence the feeds 
were firft brought to England, and many of the plants 
were raifed in the bifhop of London’s garden at Fulham, 
part of which were fent to the royal gardens at Hampton- 
court, and into Holland. 
9. Digitalis feeptrum, or Madeira ftirubby fox-glove: 
calycine leaflets fubulate ; bradtes linear, longer than 
the flowers; corollas obtufe; leaves elliptic, ferrate; 
ftern ftirubby. This is a very handfome plant. The 
branches are rough with hairs. Leaves approximating, 
near a foot in length, feffile, gradually dilated from the 
bafe into an oblong form, ferrate in the middle, acumi- 
9 Z nate a 
