the arm of the patient with delicacy and
grace.[57] Many patients had by repeated bloodlettings become inured to
its potential danger and unpleasantness. In the mid-eighteenth century one
British physician declared: "People are so familiarized to bleeding that
they cannot easily conceive any hurt or danger to ensue, and therefore
readily submit, when constitutional fear is out of the question, to the
opening of a vein, however unskillfully advised."[58] In England in the
early nineteenth century people came to the hospital to be bled in the
spring and fall as part of the ritual for maintaining good health. At some
periods there were so many people undergoing prophylactic bloodletting
that they could be seen lying on the floor of the hospital while
recovering from the faintness induced by venesection.[59]

The lancet was perhaps the most common medical instrument. _The Lancet_
was the name of one of the oldest and most socially aware English medical
journals, founded by Thomas Wakeley in 1823.[60]

In America, Benjamin Rush (1746-1813) promoted vomits, purges, salivation,
and especially bleeding. Rush, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence, is notorious in medical history for his resorting to massive
bleedings during the epidemics of yellow fever at the end of the
eighteenth century. Rush told a crowd of people in 1793: "I treat my
patients successfully by bloodletting, and copious purging with calomel
and jalop and I advise you, my good friends, to use the same remedies."
"What?" called a voice from the crowd, "Bleed and purge everyone?" "Yes,"
said the doctor, "bleed and purge all Kensington."[61]

The alternatives to bleeding in this period included administering mercury
(calomel) to promote salivation and tartar emetic to induce vomiting.
These substitutes could be as hazardous as bleeding and offered little
choice to the patient who had to bear the unpleasant effects. Thus, the
late eighteenth and early nineteenth century has been referred to by
historians as the era of heroic medicine because of the large amounts of
strong medications given and excessive bloodletting.[62]

One of the most notable victims of heroic medicine during this period was
George Washington (1732-1799), who was bled four times in two days after
having contracted a severe inflammation of the throat. Washington's
physician, Dr. Craik, admitted that the removal of too much blood might
have been the cause of his death. Additional bleeding