112 The Ottawa Naturalist. [December 



It is present only in extremely small quantities, there being not more 

 than 10 grains of it to a ton of rice. But minute as this quantity is, 

 its absence from the rice diet means disease and death. 



Similar substances have since been discovered in other foods, 

 always in very small quantities the vitamine of limes is in the pro- 

 portion of 1 to 100,000 parts and their presence in many food-pro- 

 ducts appears very probable. 



The discovery of these unsuspected food constituents throws a 

 great light on scurvy. At one time scurvy was thought to be caused 

 simply by an excess of salt in the diet. Smollett attributed the pre- 

 valence of scorbutic affections in the south of France in the 18th 

 century to the salt-laden breezes from the Mediterranean. Generally, 

 however, the dread disease was blamed on imperfectly preserved food, 

 and lack of vegetable diet. But scurvy broke out in modern polar 

 expeditions (such as Scott's in the "Discovery" and Charcot's in 'the 

 "Pourquoi pas?") which were supplied with the very best of tinned 

 meats and vegetables, all rigidly inspected by the surgeons before being 

 issued to the men, and undoubtedly in sound condition. The explana- 

 tion is that the preserving process, tinning or salting or drying, destroys 

 the vitamines, and while the foods are otherwise perfectly wholesome, 

 and may be consumed for limited periods without ill results, as a long 

 continued diet, thev are fatal. 



Up to 20 or 25 years ago, a form of scurvy known as "black-leg" 

 was common among the shantymen of the Ottawa Valley and more 

 particularly among the river-drivers. At that time the shanty bill-of- 

 fare consisted of little but salt pork, beans, bread and tea. But with 

 the variety of food now supplied, the disorder has entirely disappeared. 



Scurvy was prevalent in the early mining days in the Yukon, 

 and a gold-seeking adventurer of the writer's acquaintance tells that 

 when he developed symptoms of the malady, his friends made light of 

 it, and advised him to eat raw potatoes and he would be well in a few 

 days. But he felt anxious about his condition, and determined to enter 

 the hospital at Dawson for treatment. In the hospital they charged 

 him $10.00 a day and simply fed him on raw potatoes! 



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Charles Macnamara, Arnprior, Ont. 



