《An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present》 古今中外的基礎巫術知識

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DIGITALIS
This drug, the active principle of the foxglove plant, was first introduced into
general medical practice by a doctor who bought its secret from a witch.
He was Dr. William Withering (1741–1799), who was born at Wellington in
Shropshire. He published An Account of the Foxglove and Some of its Medical
Uses in 1785.
Withering discovered in his practice in Shropshire that people resorted to
village wise women, or white witches, for cures; and he was intrigued to find
that such cures were sometimes successful. There was one old lady in particular,
who had a herbal medicine which benefited certain heart conditions.
Having established this as a fact, Withering went to see the old witch-wife,
and bought the recipe from her. He found that the most important ingredient was
foxglove, and this started him on his own study of the properties of this plant.
He became famous during his lifetime as a result of his contribution to
medicine; and his monument in Edgbaston Old Church was ornamented with
carvings of foxglove, in tribute to his discovery.
The foxglove plant has for a very long time been associated with witches, and
is sometimes called witches’ glove or witches’ thimble. Its name is really nothing
to do with foxes; but was originally folks’ glove, ‘the glove of the good folk, or
fairies’.
Digitalis is in regular use in medical practice today. This proves that the
traditional lore of the witches was not all superstitious nonsense; especially in
the department of ‘wortcunning’, or knowledge of the properties of herbs.

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