1785

John Hunter’s most famous operation for a popliteal aneurysm; he ligated the artery in the thigh and patient did fine owing to collateral circulation (Friedman, 40-42). William Withering (Edinburgh, London) publishes treatise on Foxglove and its extract digitalis, introducing it as a diuretic for treatment of dropsy, ascites, anasarca, etc. (Mair, 197-99). In 1799, John Ferrier concluded that its essential action was on the heart (199).