When Meriwether Lewis was preparing for the expedition into the Louisiana
Territory, he studied under one Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia. Jefferson
thought Rush perhaps the best physician in the nation and wanted the
doctor to train Lewis in some rudimentary lessons in medicine. After
a few weeks of such training, Lewis gathered a number of standard medicines
for any number of ailments; as well as a concoction of Rush’s
own known as “Rush’s Pills", but were generally referred
to as “Thunder-clappers” for the laxative’s sudden
effect. The pills were a sort of “cure-all” and were liberally
given. Lancets, forceps, syringes, were also present. Beside Rush’s
pills, over thirty different drugs were brought. Some of these included
laudanum, opium, calomel, and mercury–then the standard medicine
used in the treatment of syphilis. Other medicines were used especially
for blistering, a constant problem among the Corps. Besides his short
training with Benjamin Rush, Lewis doubtless depended upon his own knowledge
of healing herbs. This sort of “frontier medicine” was to
serve the expedition well during its trip to and from the west coast.
