As an individual, William Withering was an extremely giving person. He would personally see and treat two or three thousand poor patients a year limiting him to making about 1000 British pounds as compared to his contemporary doctors who made 5000 British pounds per year.

Withering published about 19 articles during his lifetime. After fighting a long battle with tuberculosis, William Withering, the father of digitalis medicine, died on October 6 1799, at the age of 58.

Digitalis purpurea in Witherings 18th century was a blessing for people with dropsy. At the same time, foxglove concotions began to appear in an attempt to cure, albeit unsucessfuly, illneses such as asthma, epilepsy, hydrocephalus, insanity and others. The 18th century brought foxglove into medical light, but it would take several hundred years before its true healing powers could be harnessed completely.

Early History

Throughout history, man has suffered from a widespread illness that "puffed their bodies into grotesque shapes, squeezed their lungs, and finally brought slow but inexorable death. As the disease progressed, a water liquid filtered into every available space and expanded it like a balloon. Sometimes the liquid -quarts and gallons of it- made arms and legs swell so that they were immovable. Sometimes it poured into the abdomen to form a tremendous paunch. Sometimes it waterlogged the lung cavity and thereby made it impossible for the victim to breathe unless he sat bolt upright all day and all night."

The disease,for which the afforementioned description so vividly depicts, used to be called hydrops or more commonly dropsy. Following the diseases of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, dropsy was one of the chief causes of death. "It was so ten thousand years ago, a thousand years ago, and, but for an almost miraculous green leaf, it might be the same today."

Attempts to find cures to this illnes were numerous and unsucesful.
An example of the early attempts can be found in Tennants 1734
writings:

"He [Earl of Oxford] purg'd 2 or 3 Times, drank sparingly of Canary and Water, thickened with the Yolk of a new-laid Egg; and all his Victuals besides were cook'd with abundance of Garlick; and Horse-radish. This Method was pursued with great Constancy for 3 Months, and blest with intire Success."