Scurvy, past and present / by Alfred F. Hess.

  • Hess, Alfred F., 1875-1933.
Date:
[1920], ©1920
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Scurvy, past and present / by Alfred F. Hess. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The fact that scurvy may occur in any land and cli¬ mate, even in the garden spots of the world, is strikingly shown by the epidemics reported from Algiers, and the ravages of this disease among the gold seekers in Califor¬ nia in 1849. Nothing could be more incongruous than the occurrence of a deficiency disease in this land of plenty. Outbreaks at Sea.—It is doubtful, however, whether attention would have been focussed so early and so sharply on scurvy, had it not been for the voyages of exploration undertaken in the sixteenth century. These long trips on sailing vessels, where for many months little or no fresh vegetable or animal food was obtainable, were almost as if designed to make a test of the dietetic origin of scurvy. The result was inevitable—five to six months after the ships were out of touch with land, the majority of the crew frequently were incapacitated by this disease, thereby wrecking many an expedition.2 The earliest account of the outbreak of scurvy at sea is that of Vasco de Gama, who in 1497 discovered a passage to the East Indies by way of the Cape of Good Hope. The narratives of subsequent explorers, especially those of Cartier and of Drake, are replete with descriptions of the ravages of scurvy. The expedition of Lord Anson in 1740 is always cited as a memorable example of an undertaking which foundered as the result of scurvy. After a cruise of four years, this expedition had lost from this disease more than four out of five of the original number of its crews. In striking contrast to this picture, and to that furnished by the voyages of earlier navigators, is that of Captain Cook, who in 1772 undertook a voyage 2 The fact that crews of vessels which set sail in winter were more sub¬ ject to scurvy than those which set out in the summer must be attributed to the existence of latent scurvy among the sailors at the time of sailing, rather than to the season of the year.