Editing William Withering (section)

==Discovery of digitalis==
Allegedly, Withering first learned of the use of digitalis in treating "dropsy" ([[œdema]]) from "[[Mother Hutton]]", an old woman who practised as a folk herbalist in Shropshire, who used the plant as part of a [[polyherbal formulation]] containing over 20 different ingredients to successfully treat this condition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://molinterv.aspetjournals.org/cgi/content/full/1/2/75|title=Molecular Interventions - CLOCKSS|work=aspetjournals.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rpsgb.org.uk/pdfs/musevc2a.pdf|title = Royal Pharmaceutical Society {{pipe}} RPS}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|pmid=3886750 | volume=5 | issue=5 Suppl A | title=The foxglove, "The old woman from Shropshire" and William Withering |date=May 1985 | journal=J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. | pages=3A–9A | doi = 10.1016/s0735-1097(85)80457-5 | last1=Krikler | first1=Dennis M. | doi-access=free }}</ref>  Withering deduced that digitalis was the active ingredient in the formulation, and  over the ensuing nine years he carefully tried out different preparations of various parts of the plant (collected in different seasons) documenting 156 cases where he had employed digitalis, and describing the effects and the best - and safest - way of using it.  At least one of these cases was a patient for whom [[Erasmus Darwin]] had asked Withering for his second opinion.  In January 1785 Darwin submitted a paper entitled "An Account of the Successful Use of Foxglove in Some Dropsies and in Pulmonary Consumption" to the [[Royal College of Physicians|College of Physicians in London]];<ref name=Darwin>Medical Transactions, Volume 3, 1785, published by the College of Physicians, London. Transaction XVI, pp 255-286</ref>  it was presented by Darwin in March of that year.  A postscript<ref name=Anon>Medical Transactions, Volume 3, 1785, published by the College of Physicians, London. Transaction XXVIII, p 448</ref> at the end of the published volume of transactions containing Darwin's paper states that "Whilst the last pages of this volume were in the press, Dr Withering of Birmingham... published a numerous collection of cases in which foxglove has been given, and frequently with good success".  After this, Darwin and Withering became increasingly estranged, and eventually an argument broke out apparently resulting from [[Robert Darwin]] having accused Withering of unprofessional behaviour by effectively poaching patients. This is a very early example of medical [[plagiarism|academic plagiarism]]. 
[[File:William Withering and Mother Hutton.jpg|thumb|"William Withering and Mother Hutton"; illustration by [[William Meade Prince]] (1928)]]
In reality "Mother Hutton" was created in 1928 in an illustration by [[William Meade Prince]] as part of an advertising campaign by [[Parke-Davis]] who marketed digitalis preparations. There is no mention of a Mother Hutton in Withering's works or anyone else's and no mention of him meeting any old woman directly. In his account he states that he is merely asked to comment on a family recipe that was originally an old woman's receipt or recipe (that she had long kept secret) by a colleague. Since 1928, Mother Hutton's status has grown from being an image in an advertising poster to an acclaimed [[Folk healer|wise woman]], herbalist, pharmacist and medical practitioner in Shropshire who was cheated out of her true recognition by Dr. Withering's unscrupulous methods. The story often written around this is also totally apocryphal.  Withering was in fact informed of the [[Brasenose College, Oxford]] case by one of his medical colleagues Dr. Ash at Birmingham Hospital and the Dean was treated with digitalis root not leaves. The myth of Mother Hutton and how Withering chased her around Shropshire has been created by authors not going back to primary sources but instead copying and then embellishing the unreferenced work of others. See "Withering and The Foxglove; the making of a myth" by D.M. Krikler (British Heart Journal, 1985, 54: 256–257). In Withering's ''Account of the Foxglove'' printed in 1785 Withering mentions seven different occasions when foxglove was brought to his attention. Recognising that foxglove was the active ingredient in a family recipe (that was long kept secret by an old woman in Shropshire) would not have been difficult with his expert botanical knowledge. Withering had first published his ''Botanical Arrangement'' in 1776 and in it suggested foxglove deserved looking at in more detail. Erasmus Darwin tried to take the credit for foxglove and failed. Erasmus Darwin then attempted to try and discredit Withering behind the scenes with the unwitting help of his son Robert having earlier used the thesis of his dead son [[Charles Darwin (medical student)|Charles]] to try and establish priority. Charles Darwin in fact had been friendly with Withering (as had Robert) and had talked in Edinburgh University about Withering's experiments with foxglove. Erasmus Darwin was probably jealous that Withering had become the most famous and sought-after doctor outside London and that Withering's English Botanical Arrangement became the standard reference source and far exceeded the botanical publications of Erasmus (all published semi-anonymously) in popularity. Withering's Botanical Arrangement, although now almost forgotten, became the standard reference for English Botany for almost the next 100 years.