CODY - Visitors to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center are getting free medical advice this week from Dr. James Madison DeWolf, a U.S. Army surgeon who uses leeches, mercury, beef extract and turpentine to cure his patients.

DeWolf is actually a character portrayed by Cody historian George Marcum, who wisely chose not to engage in bleeding anyone or administering any creosote to museum visitors.

But that didn't stop him from diagnosing "patients" as they passed through the Cody Firearms Museum Wednesday.

"Your teeth don't look healthy to me," Marcum told Daniel and Eugene Lee, visiting from California with their parents, Pauline and Mike Lee.

"They're too white. Healthy teeth should be a pale shade of yellow. I recommend brushing your teeth once a week with a natural brush and baking soda," Marcum said, taking on the role of a frontier doctor.

"Don't expose your skin to too much water, and don't sit in a bath for long periods of time," he advised the Lees. "Don't bathe more than once a month."

Marcum answered questions, always in character, about his wide-ranging collection of antique instruments and medicines spread across three tables. The items would be used by a typical Army surgeon around 1875, he said.

Marcum works for a beverage company and has no formal medical training, but he enjoys collecting Old West medical gear and working as a re-enactor.

"It's all very scary," said Claudia Jenosky as she surveyed bottles of chloroform and ether, bone saws, dirty bandages and vials of mysterious tonics, tinctures, potions and lotions.

"I think I'd rather go through natural childbirth than have a doctor like that 'help' me," said Jenosky, visiting from Michigan with husband, Joe.

Marcum said the tools and techniques might seem primitive by today's standards, but military doctors - particularly those who served in the Civil War - were the best trained in the country.

"Remember, there were no medical boards or licenses then. Why would a reputable doctor give up a lucrative practice back East to come out West?" he said, adding that many frontier doctors were frauds, quacks or self-taught novices.

Army doctors in 1875 earned about $100 per month, plus an extra $25 monthly as hazard pay for serving west of the Mississippi River, he said.

Doctors in the West favored large medical saddlebags over the typical little black bag. Inside, they kept bandages - which were often reused without being washed - and tools, along with a selection of medicines.

Some medicines of the day, including mercury, lead, turpentine and creosote, are on hazardous materials lists today. But some gear, such as suture needles and splints, has not changed much in more than 130 years.

Along with techniques learned during the Civil War, sterilization was one of the major leaps forward for medicine at the time. The practice took hold slowly in different areas during the 1880s, he said, with some doctors using a copper tray and alcohol to clean surgical instruments.

"I know everybody I work on is going to get infected, some worse than others. I just can't be sure why," he said, slipping back into character as a frontier doctor unfamiliar with sterilization.

"I'm glad I don't need your services today," said a visitor.

"I just can't seem to get any patients lately," Marcum said with a smile.

Marcum will consult with patients from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today. His services are free with admission to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.