Digitalis folium

Source. Digitalis consists of the dried leaves rapidly dried at a temperature of about

60° as soon as possible after collection The leaves are collected from wild or cultivated plants, and either first or second year leaves may be used.

Plant. The foxglove is a biannual or perennial herb, which is very common in England and is naturalized in North America. In the first year the plant forms a rosette of leaves and in the second year an aerial stem¹ about 1 to 1.5 metres in height. The inflorescence is a raceme of bell-shaped flowers². The common wild form of the plant has a purple corolla about 4 cm long. The fruit is a bilocular capsule which contains numerous seeds.

Cultivation, Collection and Preparation. Digitalis may be readily grown from seed. In the wild state it is usually found in semi-shady positions. It grows well in sandy soil provided that a certain amount of manganese is present, this element being apparently essential and always to be found in the ash.

Storage. The International Pharmacopoeia requires that digitalis shall "be kept in a a container in which a dry atmosphere is maintained by means of a suitable dehydrating agent such as calcium oxide and protected from light. The loss on drying should not exceed 5 per cent.

History. Foxglove leaves was used externally by the Welsh physicians but the plant had no name in Greek or Latin until named digitalis, by Fuchs(1542).

The poisonous nature of the leaves was well known and the drug was recommended by Parkinson in 1640 and it was introduced into the London Pharmacopoeia in 1650.

Macroscopic characters. The leaves of the plant are about 10 to 30 cm wide. The dried leaves are of a dark greyish-green colour. The drug has marked odour, but a distinctly bitter taste.

Constituents. The chief constituents of the dried leaves and leaves and seeds are as follows:

Leaves. Digitoxin 0.2 to 0.3 per cent., gitoxin (bigitalin), and gitalin.

Seeds. Digitalin (Digitalium verum), gitalin, digitonin (a saponin), and gitonin.

According to Stoll (1938) the above glycosides from the dried leaves are themselves derived from more complex glycosides present in the fresh plant. These are

readily decomposed by enzymes present in the leaves and special methods are therefore required for their isolation.

Use. Digitalis preparations are mainly used for their action on cardiac muscle.

Notes.

¹ an aereal stem – наземне стебло

² a raceme of bell-shaped flowers – китиця з дзвоникоподібних квітів

Вправа 6. Складіть запитання до підкреслених слів:

1. In the first year the plant forms a rosette of leaves.

2. The drug was recommended by Parkinson in 1640.

3. The drug has a distinctly bitter taste.

4. The poisonous nature of the leaves is well known.

Вправа 7. Складіть речення з наступними виразами:

At a temperature of

To derive from

The poisonous nature

Варіант 5

Вправа 1. Перепишіть наступні речення, підкресліть дієслово-присудок та визначте його часову форму й стан. Перекладіть речення на українську мову.

Приклад:

The new apparatus was sent for yesterday. Вчера послали за новым аппаратом.

Was sent for – Past Simple Passive от глагола to send

1. The olive was known in Egypt in the 17^th century B.C.

2. The olives are gathered from about November to April according to the district.

3. The amount of colouring matter determines the natural fluorescence of the oil in ultra-violet light.

4. Olive oils from different sources differ somewhat in composition.

5. If the fruits fermented, the acid value of the oil would be higher than officially permitted.

Вправа 2. Перепишіть наступні речення. Підкресліть Participle I & II та визначте функцію кожного з них, тобто вкажіть, чи є воно означенням, обставиною або частиною дієслова-присудка. Перекладіть речення на українську мову.

1. The methods used for the preparation of the oil vary according to local conditions.

2. The saturated glycerides tend to separate from the oil.

3. Olive oil is used as a salad oil.

Вправа 3. Знайдіть у тексті 5 слів, утворених по конверсії та перекладіть їх у значенні іменника й дієслова.

Наприклад,

Work - робота → to work – робити

Вправа 4. Утворити прислівники та іменники за допомогою суфіксів та перекладіть їх:

а.ly: wide, natural, great, local, official

в.tion: to extract, to prepare, to determine, to separate, to compose

Вправа 5. Переписати та письмово перекласти текст: