The action of Digitalis on the cardiac inhibitory centre

Abstract

So long has digitalis been in use as a clinical drug and so long has its action been the subject of experimentation that it would seem that there is little hope of presenting anything new on the subject. Yet so long as every detail of such a subject is not fully understood, and so long as there is diversity of opinion as to the action there is room for work whether entirely new or confirmatory. It is in the hope of confirming some older theories by newer methods that the present work is undertaken. It is the purpose of this work to carry out a direct investigation of the exclusive action of Digitalin upon the cardiac inhibitory centre in the medulla, accomplishing this by making a perfusion of the brain when isolated from the body except for its connections through the vagus trunk.