PURPLE FOXGLOVE. 841

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o t ae disordered condition of the alimentary canal, of the circulatingato tlS ’ an d of the cerebro-spinal system. The more ordinary symptomstile nausea or actual vomiting, slow and often irregular pulse, coldness of^^hemities, syncope or a tendency to it, giddiness, and confusion ofdi ° n - Sometimes the sickness is attended with purging, or even withtile CS ? S ’ at other times the patient is neither vomited nor purged ; andt|J i lr ' n cipal disorder of system is observed in the altered condition of

fell,

Nervous and vascular organs. External objects appear of a green or

°"'colour; the patient fancies there is a mist, or sparks, before his

'H n,’ a sen sation of weight, pain, or throbbing of the head, especiallyl 0ss ae frontal region, is experienced; giddiness, weakness of the limbs,a | s sleep, occasionally stupor or delirium, and even convulsions, maytjj 0 ' J(! present. The pulse becomes feeble, sometimes frequent, some-Ptdf S S ^°" ’ there may be actual syncope, or only a tendency to it, andd Q lISe cold sweats. Salivation is sometimes induced by poisonousS f° x gl° ve - was observed in a case, narrated by Dr. Henry

|'i lr Med. and Surg. Journ. vol. vii. p. 148), and has been known to lastjiree weeks ( Rust's Magazin, xxv. 578).stf . quantity of digitalis that maybe given to a patient without de-life , is much greater than is ordinarily imagined. In oneri) ( ] Ce ^ saw twenty drops of the tincture given to an infant labouringhydrocephalus, three times daily for a fortnight, at the end oft 0 ^ Ca time the little patient was completely recovered, without one un-H ar< l symptom. I have frequently given a drachm of the tincture (ofSe r - quality) three times daily to an adult, for a fortnight, without ob-i tl ln g any marked effect. I know that some practitioners employ it in^ j larger doses (as an ounce or half an ounce of the tincture), witha-^ CSs e hcct than might be imagined. The following communicationjj ') subject, from my friend Dr. Clutterbuck, illustrates this point:—

PUi q information on this subject was derived from an intelligenttj t j> 'vho had been an assistant to Mr. King, a highly respectable prac-a l Saxmundham, in Suffolk , who, on a subsequent occasion, per-confirmed the statement. This gentleman assured me, that he<W t . n l® 1 ' many years in the habit of administering the tincture ofrilf . s > to the extent of from half an ounce to an ounce at a time, notsa fety, but with the most decided advantage, as a remedy form . e inflammation,—not, however, to the exclusion of blood-letting,’J'o °n the contrary, he previously uses with considerable freedom.

aci ults he often gives an ounce of the tincture (seldom less than halfi lot ° ailCe ), and awaits the result for twenty-four hours, when, if he doesd 0i . the pulse subdued, or rendered irregular by it, he repeats the, > and this, he says, seldom fails to lower the pulse in the degreeW a e< i for; and when this is the case, the disease rarely fails to givethe ’ P r °vided it has not gone the length of producing disorganization ofti U| I )ar t. He has given as much as two drachms to a child of nine(][,. l ls - Sometimes vomiting quickly follows these large doses of theg 0 a ls ’ k ut never any dangerous symptom, as far as his observation hasgi v e ’ " hich has been very extensive. In less acute cases he sometimes( f a Sln aller doses, as thirty drops, several times in a day.

W ‘n'ch is the account I received from Mr. King himself, and whichHe e c °nfirmed by his assistant, who prepared his medicines. I do notan y ground for questioning the faithfulness of the report. I have