| Mercury's caduceus is a wrought-iron trim on a herald's wand, his helmet wingless a metal bowl. |
| Originally the caduceus was a rod or olive branch ending in two shoots and decorated with garlands or ribbons. |
| The caduceus is also the rod of healing and so Mercury is also the god of medicine, as had been Thoth before him. |
| The caduceus, a double spiral around a staff, is a symbol of the medical profession. |
| This was the forerunner of the caduceus, the snake-entwined rod which is today the emblem of the medical profession. |
| Hermes used a magic rod, the caduceus, with which he practised magic and it was this caduceus, which gained him entry into the underworld. |
