“ So definite is this that, despite a great increase in the force of the contractions and despite experimental proof that the heart does more work in a given time under the influence of digitalis, the organ subsequently displays all the signs of having rested, its improved vigour being really due to its obtaining a larger supply of the nutrient blood. Almost equally striking is the fact that digitalis causes an irregular pulse to become regular. ”

“ Though Heidenhain asserts that rise in the renal blood-pressure has not a diuretic action per se, it seems probable that this influence of the drug is due to a rise in the general blood-pressure associated with a relatively dilated condition of the renal vessels. In large doses, on the other hand, the renal vessels also are constricted and the amount of urine falls. It is probable that digitalis increases the amount of water rather than that of the urinary solids. ”

“ Digitalis is used in therapeutics exclusively for its action on the circulation. In prescribing this drug it must be remembered that fully three days elapse before it gets into the system, and thus it must always be combined with other remedies to tide the patient over this period. It must never be prescribed in large doses to begin with, as some patients are quite unable to take it, intractable vomiting being caused. The three days that must pass before any clinical effect is obtained renders it useless in an emergency. ”