|
Medical
Supplies
- taken on the Lewis and Clark expedition
| ITEM |
PRICE |
ITEM |
PRICE |
| 15
lbs. Peruvian bark |
$30.00 |
4
oz. Laudanum |
.50 |
| 1/2
lb. Jalap |
.67 |
2
lbs. Basilicum ointment |
1.00 |
| 1/2
lb. Rhubarb |
1.00 |
1
lb. Calamine |
.50 |
| 4
oz. Ipecac |
1.25 |
1
lb. Epipastric |
1.00 |
| 2
lbs. Cream of tartar |
.67 |
2
oz. Magnesia |
.20 |
| 2
oz. Gum camphor |
.40 |
2
oz. Gum elastic |
.37 |
| 1
lb. Assafoetida |
1.00 |
2
oz. Cloves |
.31 |
| 1/2
lb. Opium |
2.50 |
6
4-oz. salt mo. |
2.22 |
| 1/4
lb. Tragacanth |
.37 |
1
pine chest |
1.20 |
| 6
lbs. Glauber salts |
.60 |
1
lb. mercury ointment |
1.25 |
| 2
lbs. Saltpeter |
.67 |
1
Set pocket instruments |
9.50 |
| 2
lbs. Ferrous sulfate |
.10 |
1
Set dental instruments |
2.25 |
| 6
oz. Lead acetate |
.37 |
1
Clyster syringe |
2.75 |
| 1
oz. Tartar emetic |
.10 |
4
Penis syringes |
1.20 |
| 4
oz. White vitriol |
.12 |
3
Best lancets |
2.40 |
| 1/2
lb. Root of Columbo |
1.00 |
1
Tourniquet |
3.50 |
| 1/4
lb. Sulfuric acid |
.25 |
2
oz. Patent lint |
.25 |
| 1/4
lb. Wintergreen |
.50 |
50
doz. Dr. Rush's pills |
5.00 |
| 1/4
lb. Copaiboe |
.37 |
6
Tin canisters |
1.50 |
| 1/4
lb. Benzoin |
.50 |
3
8-oz. Stoppered bottles |
1.20 |
| 1/4
lb. India ink |
1.50 |
5
4-oz. Tincture bottles |
1.85 |
| 2
oz. Nutmegs |
.75 |
1
walnut chest |
4.50 |
| |
|
4
oz. Cinnamon
|
.20 |
| |
|
TOTAL |
$90.69 |
Many
items on the list of supplies in the Corps of Discovery's
medical kit are meaningless or downright baffling to readers
in the 21st century. In the early 19th century, however,
the purposes of most would have been obvious to anyone
who had ever tried to treat a wound, calm an upset stomach
or reduce a fever. Expedition leader Meriwether Lewis
purchased the materials from a Philadelphia drug firm
after consulting with some of the leading medical experts
of the day.
Medical
science, such as it was, could do little for most illnesses
and injuries in 1803. The role of microbes as disease
agents was unknown, and treatment for many disorders
consisted of simply trying to remove the assumed cause
of sickness from the body. This typically was done by
bleeding or purging. Accordingly, the expedition's medical
kit contains substances to induce vomiting (ipecac,
white vitriol, tartar emetic) and to loosen the bowels
(jalap, rhubarb, cream of tartar, Glauber's salts, calomel,
magnesia, assafoetida). Dr. Rush's pills, also known
as "Rush's Thunderbolts," were a powerful
laxative probably containing calomel - a compound of
mercury and chlorine - and jalap, the powdered root
of a Central American plant. Clyster syringes were used
to administer enemas. Lancets were used to open veins.
The
most expensive medicine on the expedition's shopping
list, Peruvian bark, was a source of the anti-malarial
drug quinine; it generally was used to control fevers
and also could be applied to wounds as a soothing disinfectant.
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