Caduceus eloquence). The caduceus is often incorrectly used as a symbol of healthcare organizations and medical practice, particularly in North America, due to confusion with the traditional medical symbol, the Rod of Asclepius, which has only one snake and is never depicted with wings. It is thought that this symbol's long lasting association with the medical profession stems from early use of twigs to draw out long bodied inter muscular parasitic worms by wrapping them slowly around the twig so as not to break them or allow them to escape back into the body, a successful treatment still in use today,
Caduceus as a symbol of medicine publishing and the role of Mercury as a messenger and scribe. He notes, however In any case, in Great Britain, as late as 1854, the distinction between the rod of Asclepius and the caduceus as symbols of two very different professions was apparently still quite clear. In his article "On Tradesmen's Signs of London" A.H. Burkitt notes that among the very old symbols still used in London at that time, which were based on associations between pagan gods and professions, "we find Mercury, or his "caduceus", appropriate in trade, as indicating expedition. "Esculapius", his "Serpent and staff", or his "cock",