There were many techniques used for cures. Some of these cures seem barbaric in this day and age. Among these were bleeding, blistering, medicines, and purging by either emetic, or enema (Dary, 2008, p. 28).Blistering was the act of placing a hot object on the body and forming a blister. The pus that would come from the wound was considered the disease leaving the body. Barbers evolved from ancient medicine men and believed that good and bad spirits entered the body through the hair; this in turn evolved so that barbers became blood letters. Surgery became better respected after the French king Louis XIV’s anal fistula procedure (Dary, 2008). King Louis was also very fond of his enemas as was most people in that time period. They believed it was a cure all for every malady. I was extremely excited to come across the origins of a saying I still say today, “starve a fever and feed a cold. This saying originated when medicines became in greater use. All of these different ways of treating disease were considered “heroic medicine” (Dary, 2008). Leeches are still used to this day as I became intimately familiar with these after working on a burn unit at a previous hospital. If ever given the chance, ask them about their pets, they are proud to show them off! Dr. Benjamin Rush was a prominent, respected physician and one of four that signed the Declararion of Independence. He leaned heavily on bloodlettimg and purging. He was ignorant of the Native American study of medicine due mostly to the fact that he only studied the Philadelphia tribe. He automatically dismissed the Indians use of plants, trees, and herbs. He influenced the expedition of Lewis and Clark by freely giving his medical advice and gathering a list of questions that he wanted them to ask the many tribes they would come across. No one knows if they ever got back with Dr. Rush and discussed their findings. Dr. Rush also gave Lewis the 11 commandments for preserving their health. Lewis and Clark not only used this knowledge of Dr. Rush but expanded on it with their own knowledge of field medicine. Lewis carefully documented on each illness that afflicted his team and the people he treated. This attention to detail is the basis for what we use today as the diagnosis (Dary, 2008). There were three known physicians during the early republic of the United States that contributed to what