Report of the Commitee appointed by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, to enquire into the causes of the outbreak of scurvy in the recent Arctic Expedition ; the adequacy of the provision made by the Admiralty in the way of food, medicine, and medical comforts ; and the propriety of the orders given by the commander o[f] the Expedition for provisioning the sledge parties.

Great Britain. Admiralty. Committee on Scurvy.

Date:: [1877?]

Credit: Report of the Commitee appointed by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, to enquire into the causes of the outbreak of scurvy in the recent Arctic Expedition ; the adequacy of the provision made by the Admiralty in the way of food, medicine, and medical comforts ; and the propriety of the orders given by the commander o[f] the Expedition for provisioning the sledge parties. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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AIR, continued— larger area per man than before experienced, 216, 226; larger than Resolute, 226 ; never experienced impurity of air in Alert ; visits at midnight, the air as pure as any ship on ordinary service, purer than Resohite, and better than on previous arctic service, 9303 ; observations on a man-of-war in Portsmouth Harbour would probablv show the same result, 9317 ; cubic space in Alert, after deductions, about 6,000 feet, 9316. Dr. Colan— Observations made on ozone of the air, 2040-42 ; how far absence of ozone has a debilitating effect, 2045 ; small amount of electricity, 2045; no thunderstorms, 2046 ; usual allowance of cubic space in Alert for men to sleep in, 1637; the lower deck extended further aft, 1637 ; cubic space sufficient, and the air tested by Dr. Moss, 1610-41 ; the amount of carbonic acid found, 1642, 1648, 2178 ; at what time taken, 2178-81 ; how far this amount would prove detrimental to health, 1643-4 ; result of testing the air outside, 1646, 2182 ; difficulty in admitting external air, owing to cold, 1650 ; no means of heating air on admission, 1651; advantage of doing so, 1652-7 ; they had sufficient air between decks, 1653. Dr. Moss— Alert— The air not pure on board, 2253, 2255, 2275-81 ; but fairly so under the circumstances, 2254; estimated cubic space of men's living deck after enlargement in October, 2258-60; number of men on board, 2262 ; impossibility of affording more space in arctic ships, 2419 ; without taking ships larger than are suitable for ice work, 2420 ; space about 170 cubic feet per head, 2263 ; impossibility of changing the air often enough, 2270 ; the percentage of carbonic acid not an infallible guide to purity of atmosphere, but an indication, 2272-3 ; 2 to 4 per cent, present on board, 2274 ; how far such an atmosphere was relatively impure, 2275-6 ; possibility of its being the minimum purity attainable, 2276 ; '02 per cent, abnormally pure even for outer air, 2277; advan- tage of air being admitted after heating, 2286 ; imprac- ticability of frequent renewal of air with means available, 2409-10 ; estimations of the carbonic acid in the air out- side, 2279-81. Dr. Ninnis— Discovery — What the cubic space per man was, 2536; variations of temperature and amount of steam in living deck, 2539 ; weekly estimations of carbonic acid, 2540; extremes between deck from '3 to '5 per cent., 2544-5 ; taken when men had been some time in hammocks, 2546 ; im- purity not to the senses greater than in an ordinary ship, 2548 ; impossibility of remedying impurity, 2538, 2548; efforts to do so, 2546; difficulty due to coldness of outside air preventing sufficient renewal without draughts, 2519 ; advantage of heating the air on admis- sion, 2550. Dr. Coppinger— Discovery — Estimations of carbonic acid in open air and between decks, 2851-8 ; process adopted, 2855 ; net cubic space of air per man 140ft., 2860-63 ; impossibility in the cold climate of renewing the air sufficiently often with a high standard, 2864-9 ; by such a standard the air on board was impure, 2869-70; carbonic acid -4 to '6 per cent, at 11 p.m., the worst time, 2871-2 ; when the men were asleep, 2915; in the open air from -07 to -1 per cent., 2875 ; will not bind himself to accuracy of results, 2871, 2876 ; organic impurity of air not great to the senses, 2877; purity of air not attainable, 2914; its state not conducive to perfect health, 2914 ; how far his estimate was modified by absence of men on duty from the lower deck, 2952-5 ; calculation made for actual number of men sleeping during the night, 2955 ; the estimation does not apply to the day-time, 2957. Admiral Richards1—■ Renewal of air in ships, 3205-6 ; advantage of air from outside being admitted heated, 3208-9; hot air would hold more vapour in suspension, 3209-10. ■ Dr. Macdonald— Importance of renewal of air, 3,000 feet an hour required, 4834; air space important as regards temperature and renew-al of air, 4868-9 ; artificial means required in a confined space, 4872-3, 4876-9; standard of purity in an inclosed space -06, 4838, 4880 ; this will be exceeded with closed hatches, 4838 ; some change then necessary, 4879-80 ; the carbonic acid would then increase, 4838 ; the saturation of air depends on temperature, its powers of absorbing moisture increasing with heat, 4842 ; 3,000 cubic feet per hour required for each person, but more for sick, 4834, 4870-71; -4 to -5 per cent, shows a great deal of impurity, 4881; such an atmosphere deleterious, 4882 ; condensation and humidity would be got rid of by the more frequent renewal possible, if hot air is admitted, 4883 ; suggestions for testing the air on the lower deck by volumetric examination, Pettenkofer's method very good, 4932-3 ; the amount of carbonic acid an index of impurities, 4932. AIR, continued— Dr. De Chaumont— Renewal three to four times an hour the most practicable at the ordinary temperature, 5028-31 ; impossibility of renewing it twenty-five times in arctic ships, 5032-3, 5065; possibility if air admitted were heated, 5034-6; air outside frequently renewed as often, 5044 ; through an aperture of 24 square inches, to effect the renewal, the air must travel at 3-4 miles an hour, 5067-70 ; the draught would be too great unless heated, 5070 ; an ex- traction apparatus the best way of ventilation, 5071-2 ; arctic ships might be so equipped if the air could be heated, 5073; the condensation would be removed, capacity for vapour increasing with the temperature, 5043-4; '4 or '5 per cent, carbonic acid in the air ex- tremely impure, 5038 ; half a volume per thousand the maximum permissible, 5039 ; the analysis of outside air made on mountains and in London showed the same amount, 5041-2 ; calculates the inmates of the arctic ships to have had only 160 cubic feet per hour, 5044; 3,000 cubic feet and upwards per man per hour neces- sary to maintain the standard of purity, 5027, 5064, 5093 ; 5,000 if in active employment, 5027; 600 cubic feet space net allowed to each man in barracks, 5045 ; 1,200 in hospitals in temperate climates, 5046 ; renewal twice an hour, 5047 ; it is done without inconvenience, but some of the air is heated, 5048 ; air can be renewed three times an hour without discomfort with 1,000 feet per man, 5096 ; importance of renewal in maintenance of health, 5089 ; the difference in living spaces disap- pears after two hours, 5090-92; unless practically open air, 5092 ; an open window or a ventilator necessary in every room, 5093-4; fresh air antiscorbutic by providing the blood with oxygen and preventing breathing impure matter, 5098 ; carbonic acid shown in estimations of Alert proves the impurity of the air, 5119 ; the esti- mations show it was not due to excess of carbonic acid in external air, 5121; fresh air admitted only one-tenth of the requisite amount, 5119. Mr. Busk— The cubic space in the Dreadnought, 1,000 feet per man, 5302; the amount on board the arctic ships too small for constant residence, not if merely occupied at night, 5303 ; the difficulties of ventilation probably insurmount- able, but the effects of bad air not a chief cause of scurvy, 5304-5. Dr. Guy- Cubic space important on account of the difficulty of venti- lation, 5367 ; a vitiated atmosphere not so fatal to picked lives as to persons of all ages, &c, 5369-70 ; an infectious malady specially fatal with it, 5369 ; the late expedition were well able to resist its bad effects, 5369-71; 1,000 cubic feet allowed per man at Millbank, 5372-3 ; John Howard thought this the proper amount, 5372. Yice-Admiral Ommanney— Fewer things got out of Assistance when on the floe than if in harbour, consequent reduction of cubic space, 5876-7. Dr. Dickson— The cubic space enforced in the mercantile marine, 72 feet 5636-8 ; this would be doubled by half the crew being on watch, 5638 ; cubic space unimportant with plenty of apertures, 5638-9; the difficulty of renewing air in arctic greater than in temperate climates, owing to cold, 5641-2 ; vitiated air reduces the standard of health and causes diseases, but not scurvy, 5647-51. Sir A. Armstrong— No means of testing the air in Investigator, 8949; matters worse than in the recent expedition, 8951 ; difficulty in keeping lower deck of polar ships pure, 8948, 9064; the cold being one obstacle, owing to difficulty of renewal of air, 9072-3 ; experiments in late expedition in carbonic acid in air, 8950 ; no estimations of air have been made in other ships, 8953; air in Alert not pure, but probably better than in Investigator, 9065 ; to what extent estimation of outside air may have been faulty, 9066, 9069; effects of bad air on printersand persons engaged in similar work, 8986. ALERT— Papers in Appendix. No. Sailing orders of .. .. .. .. .. 1 Dietary of .. .,. .. .. ., .. .. 3 Winter routine of .. .. .. .. .. .. 4 Regulations for drying-room of .. .. .. 5 Diagram of darkness .. .. .. .. .. 6 Abstract of temperature, return of .. .. .. 8 Chemical analysis of air inside and out when in winter quarters .. .. .. .. .. .. 20 Sections and plans of Alert, with cubical contents of decks 22 Evidence. Sir G. Nares— Commissioned 15th April, 1875, 1; winter routine, 29, Dr. Colan— Seventy officers and men on board, 1622. ALCOHOL. [See Spirits.'] AMUSEMENTS. [See Recreation.']

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