Nearly all of us know the story of Lewis and Clark, but their preparations for the expedition were fairly elaborate, to say the least! The same could be said for the astronauts going into space! We hear about the trip, but very little about the prepping for the trip! This little nugget from the folks over at Listverse shows what I'm talking about!
Archaeology by Diarrhea
The Lewis and Clark expedition was sent out by President Jefferson to cross the continent of America. They were to make scientific discoveries and contact the native Americans. Because they were to be gone for so long it was necessary to train them in medicine so that they could treat illness and injury. Benjamin Rush, famous doctor and founding father, was a key advisor. He was a keen advocate of purgatives and laxatives. To clear out the bowels of the expedition he provided them with his own invention, Bilious Pills. These contained a large amount of mercury. They were so effective as laxative that the expedition termed them Thunder Clappers. The problem with mercury is that it remains in the environment for a very long time. When the expedition used the pills they left such large amounts of mercury in the ground that later archaeologists have been able to identify the path of the expedition by the levels of the metal still remaining from the Thunder Clapper purges.
I do hope that no one needs any of these after the big dinners yesterday! I've heard a rumor that mercury isn't really something you want to put in your body! Either way, I really don't want any of these pills! Don't think I could endure the side effects, ya know?
Coffee out on the patio this morning! I have some pumpkin pie left I will share.
