JMS PearceEast Yorks, Hull, England William Withering (1741-1799) (Fig 1) made several important contributions to medicine and science other than his well-known discovery of the medicinal value of the foxglove (Digitalis purpurea). Digitalis1 and diuretics were the lynchpins of treatment for edema and congestive heart failure until the 1990s. Withering found that if he used…