Composed of digitalis 15 parts, alcohol 100 parts, cinnamon water 150
parts, boiling water 500 parts, cold water to make 1000 parts. By
maceration.
DOSE.--Horses and cattle, 2 to 4 oz.; sheep and pigs, ¹⁄₂ to 1 oz.;
dogs, 1 to 4 dr.
There are several substitutes for digitalis found in commerce.
ACTIONS.--A cardiac and vascular tonic and stimulant, a motor excitant,
paralyzant, anaphrodisiac, it is an indirect diuretic and an emetic,
irritates the mucous membrane.
The heart is slowed but the force is increased; digitalis stimulates the
cardiac motor ganglia, the inhibitory apparatus and the vaso-motor
centers, contracting the arterioles and thereby greatly raising the
arterial tension; large doses exhaust and paralyze the heart.
Its diuretic action is very complex, one of the active principles,
digitalin, increases the arterial pressure by contracting the blood
vessels of the body, while the large renal arteries are dilated by two
of its active principles, digitoxin and digitalein. On this account
digitalis is an ideal diuretic.
USES.--It is used as a cardiac stimulant in full doses, followed by
small ones; used in heart and cardiac debility from any cause,
irregularity of the heart due to debility; used in dropsical conditions,
combined with acetate or nitrate of potash; it is useful in congestion
of organs, useful in the first stages of pneumonia and scarlatina; as a
diuretic over the region of the kidneys this can be used two or three
times daily; when internal remedies fail to increase the action of the
kidneys this is very effectual. Useful in palpitation of the heart due
to overexertion. Digitalis is occasionally employed with good results as
a poultice of the leaves, applied over the loins to promote diuresis, or
in local inflammation, to contract blood vessels.