A note on the use of topical digitalis prior to William Withering

Attention is called to the fact that, long before the systematization of oral digitalis therapy by Withering in the eighteenth century, the drug was applied to the skin by inunction, producing effects that can now be recognized as due to an overdosage of Digitalis glycosides. The history of digitalis is briefly reviewed: the drug appears not to have been known to Greek and Roman physicians, but by the Middle Ages was widely used in folk medicine. Contrary to current wisdom, there is a wealth of historical information suggesting that topically applied Digitalis glycosides are capable of exerting physiological activity. It is perhaps time to re-examine this feature, in view of the present-day general interest in transdermal medications.