Withering, William (1741–1799)

English physician, botanist, and mineralogist who investigated the drug digitalis (from the foxglove plant), which he initially used as a diuretic to treat oedema.

Withering was born in Wellington, Shropshire, and studied at the Edinburgh Medical School. From 1775 he had a practice in Birmingham, where he met prominent contemporary scientists; he later became physician at Birmingham General Hospital. Because he publicly expressed his sympathies with the French Revolution, in 1791 his house was attacked by a mob.

Withering began studying Digitalis purpurea in 1775, after noting its use in traditional herbal remedies. He worked out precise dosages of dried foxglove leaves for oedema, and also suggested the possible use of the drug in the treatment of heart disease. It is now widely used for treating heart failure.

Withering published Account of the Foxglove 1785.

His Botanical Arrangement 1776, based on the system of Swedish botanist Linnaeus, became a standard work, and his activities in geology are remembered through the mineral ore witherite (barium carbonate), which was named after him.