FURFLE FOXGLOVE.

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1, Sor ^ e ri n g the animal or cerebro-spinal functions. Thus we sometimestoil] 13 ^ 1C s t° m acli disordered, the pulse altered in frequency, and some-w.f s a ^ so * n tiuhiess and regularity, and the secretion of urine increased,j °ut any other marked symptoms. The order in which the symptomsnj Mentioned occur is not uniform: sometimes the diuresis, at others0 i Se; >> and occasionally the affection of the circulation, being the firstJ°us effect.

oe influence of foxglove over the circulation is not at all constant,cases the frequency of the pulse is augmented, in others de-of •* Se ^, while in some it is unaffected. Lastly, in a considerable numberCfaoces, the pulse becomes irregular or intermittent under the use ofA f ° Ve . (See the statistical resume, of Sandras, Bull, de Therap. t. vi.)^ e W drops of the tincture will, in some cases, reduce the frequency ofPulse , and render it irregular and intermittent, while in other in-]j r ees much larger doses may be taken without any obvious effect on it.^ ’ Withering ( Account of the Foxglove , p. 73,1785) mentions one case5() a ’ch the pulse fell to 40, and I have several times seen it reduced toJn some cases the slowness of the pulse is preceded by an increasedti’o the vascular system. From Sandras’s [op. cil.) reports this

f 0 i a PP ea r to occur more frequently after small than large doses of^ filove. Dr. Sanders {Treat, on Pulm. Consumption, ed- 1808) indeedtj e ®ds, that foxglove invariably excites the pulse, and refers to an expe-fj. Q Ce of 2000 cases in proof. He says, that he has seen the pulse risetioi to t ~0 under the use of foxglove, and at the end of twenty-fourtlijs ° r sooner > fall with greater or less rapidity to forty, or even below(i‘ ‘ Hut an experience of the use of foxglove in only twenty cases, will,in ® ll eve, convince most persons that Dr. Sanders has fallen into an errortiei * e SWee ping assertion which he has made. A great deal, however,tie'd* on the position of the patient. If it be desired to reduce thePn^tiency 0 f q ie pulse, the patient should be kept in the recumbent

i Ure. Xhe important influence of posture was first pointed out, I be-Dr. Baildon {Ed. Med. and Surg. Journ. vol. iii. p. 270). HisJ> e ,.ti Pulse , which had been reduced by this plant from 110 to 40 beatss at Itllnv d e while he was in the recumbent position, rose to 70 when heand to 100 when he stood. We have a ready explanation of this(n ‘ lu a state of health the pulsations of the heart are more frequenttile v W Hie extent of five or six in the minute) in the erect than in0 ^ tiorizontal position ; and it is very obvious that greater force is re-iii to carry on the circulation in the former than in the latter, since,, e erect position, the heart and arteries have to send blood to theagainst gravity. Now, the power of the heart being enfeebled byfor ” ° Ve > when a demand is made on this viscus for an increase in the?tiit con t ra ctions by the change from the recumbent to the standingi tl t p l d e > it endeavours to make up for its diminished force by an increasecl,. e frequency of its contractions. I need scarcely add that the suddenUig<p® °f position in those who are much under the influence of thistilY, . 1Clne , i s attended with great danger, and in several instances hasto h e a fatal; for, in consequence of the heart not having sufficient powertlig )r °P e l the blood to the head against gravity, fatal syncope has beenPo r( *ult. (For some interesting remarks on the Effects produced byp, f^e on the pulse, by Dr. Graves, consult Dubl. Hosp. Rep. vol. x.f-) The influence of digitalis over the pulse is more marked in