An Account of the Foxglove, and Some of Its Medical Uses

William Withering's 1785 monograph is one of medicine's genuine origin stories. After learning of a folk dropsy remedy involving the foxglove plant, Withering conducted decade-long trials on more than 150 patients before publishing this careful account of results and warnings. The work directly laid the groundwork for modern cardiac glycoside therapy — foxglove derivatives are still used to treat congestive heart failure today. Available as a free public-domain text through Project Gutenberg, it's an accessible window into 18th-century empirical medicine and the patient observation that drives real discovery. The honest caveat: 18th-century prose moves slowly for non-specialists, and the 2020 reprint editions often lack scholarly apparatus. Worth reading for anyone curious about how a single physician's careful notes changed how we treat the human heart.