Lewis and Clark, among other things, carry with them 600 mercury laxative tablets, each four times the size of a modern aspirin (!). These are Dr. Rush’s Bile Tablets, named after Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He became famous for staying put during the terrible yellow fever epidemic of 1794, and for all kinds of illnesses, he prescribed mercuric chloride, to be taken orally. All this mercury (which is toxic) made people foam at the mouth, and after weeks of treatment, it caused hair and teeth to fall out. The treatment undoubtedly poisoned and killed many people who would otherwise have survived. Nevertheless, his treatments were adopted by thousands of people, including Lewis and Clark. The fortunate side effect is that today, Dr. Rush’s big pill is still used. Rush helped trace the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s camp sites by following traces of mercury left in latrines. Dr. Rush’s thunder pill often caused dysentery, which left large quantities of mercury on the ground, which are still present today.
