- published: 13 Nov 2008
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William Withering FRS (17 March 1741 – 6 October 1799) was an English botanist, geologist, chemist, physician and the discoverer of digitalis.
Withering was born in Wellington, Shropshire, trained as a physician and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School. He worked at Birmingham General Hospital from 1779. The story is that he noticed a person with dropsy (swelling from congestive heart failure) improve remarkably after taking a traditional herbal remedy; Withering became famous for recognising that the active ingredient in the mixture came from the foxglove plant. The active ingredient is now known as digitalis, after the plant's scientific name. In 1785, Withering published An Account of the Foxglove and some of its Medical Uses, which contained reports on clinical trials and notes on digitalis's effects and toxicity.
Extract from a talk about poison plants featuring William Withering's discovery of the effect of Digitalis, foxglove, on the heart
After briefly outlining the work of William Withering (1741-1799) and Sir James Mackenzie (1853-1925) on the use of digitalis in the treatment of heart disease, the film describes the chemical composition and medicinal properties of the common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), and shows how digoxin is extracted from the leaves of the white Danubian foxglove (Digitalis Lanata). Find out more: http://catalogue.wellcomelibrary.org/record=b1664071~S12.
The William Wirhering Pub, New Street, Wellington, Telford, is opening for business. It is one of the most spectacular pubs in the chain.
The latest pub in the Wetherspoon real ale and food chain launched officially in New Street, Wellington today, Friday 22 July. Paul Gossage and Barbara Taylor from Ironbridge Gorge Museum were in period costume and members of the Telford Stage School performed a variety of songs outside the pub.
William Withering is één van de grondleggers van de farmacologie. Zijn belangrijkste ontdekking volgens professor Cohen is te danken aan een bijzondere ontmoeting in 1775 met moeder Hutton, een kruidenvrouwtje. Mensen met allerlei kwalen laten zich graag behandelen door het vrouwtje met haar magische kruidenmengsels. Als Withering de bijzondere effecten ziet van haar behandeling bij mensen die veel vocht vasthouden, doet hij een vondst die vandaag de dag nog steeds zorgt voor wonderen.
International name: Digitalis purpurea Family name: Plantaginaceae Arabisch: قمعية أرجوانية Deutsch: Roter Fingerhut English: Foxglove / Common foxglove / Purple foxglove / Lady's glove Espanol: Dedalera / Digital / Cartucho / Chupamieles / Guante de Nuestra Señora / San Juan Francais: Digitale pourpre Nederlands: Vingerhoedskruid Romana: Degețel roșu Height: Digitalis purpurea can grow to a height of 1,20 - 1,90 m tall. Flowers: The flowering stem develops in the second year, typically 1 - 2 m (3.3 - 6.6 ft) tall, sometimes longer. The flowers are arranged in a showy, terminal, elongated cluster and each flower is tubular and pendent. The flowers are purple, but some plants under cultivation, may be pink, rose, yellow, or white. The inside surface of the flower tube is heavily spotted...
Prof Alan Rickinson delivers the William Withering Lecture 2014 as part of the launch event for the University of Birmingham's Center for Human Virology launch event. Recorded 7 April 2014 at the Bramall Music Building, University of Birmingham.
As i was passing close by, I thought i would stop by an old explore, from a little over two years ago. Abandoned decay is making good progress reclaiming this property, but it still provided a welcome refuge from the rain,,,just!...After battling my way through the jungle of ferns, nettles & thorns & more 'Digitalis purpurea' (Common Foxglove) than I've ever seen growing wild in the one place: Foxgloves are a source of digitoxin, a glycoside used in the drug digitalis, which has been used as a heart stimulant since 1785. It is also well-known for its toxicity, and ingestion of the leaves (usually as a result of misidentification for comfrey, Symphytum officinale) can result in severe poisoning. Despite their toxicity, they have been widely used in folk-medicine. Foxglove tea (an infusion o...
Six long months at sea,
now a warmer current brings
echoed fragments of a song I think we wrote.
With a worn thin book of maps
and our faith so full of holes
it’s a miracle we even stayed afloat.
We could taste the salt through our fingertips
and knew the time had come,
so we said goodbye to the lives we’d lived
and pulled our anchor up.
Now we scrape the barnacles from our hearts
and we row the boat to shore, hallelujah.
You can feel the end even as we start.
We row the boat to shore, hallelujah.
Just done letting go all the things I used to own.
Now I guess the tides are changing once again.
I got so goddamned good at navigating on my own,
but I guess it’s time to bring the old boat in.
Well, I’ve worked so hard to get my sea legs,
and I’ve earned these calloused hands.
But I drank this ocean down to the dregs;
now I’m thirsty for dry land.
Now I scrape these barnacles from my heart
and I row the boat to shore, hallelujah.
I heard sirens sing themselves apart,
so I row the boat to shore.