232 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



instance, that although the prisons in Italy may contain many 

 " pellagrins," no warder ever catches the complaint. The diet 

 would appear to be, in this case also, the more probable source 

 to which to look for the explanation of the disease. 



Scurvy 



The diseases thus far dealt with do not occur frequently in 

 our own country, because our people are not confined either to 

 rice or maize as their sole foodstuff. We come nearer home 

 when we refer to scurvy, although this also is one of the 

 " seldom-seen " diseases. At the port of London, ten cases 

 were reported during the years 1899- 1909. 



The most characteristic symptoms of scurvy are the swell- 

 ings of the legs and thighs, and the livid patches which are 

 caused by the haemorrhages under the skin. The gums are 

 usually swollen and congested, and the teeth become loose and 

 drop out. The bones are brittle and there is arrest of fresh 

 bone formation. Similar symptoms may be produced in 

 guinea-pigs, rabbits, dogs, and pigs by feeding them on a 

 diet consisting exclusively ot bread. The same subcutaneous 

 haemorrhages are produced, the gums become swollen, the 

 teeth loose, and the bones brittle, so that we may say that 

 scurvy may be experimentally produced in these animals, thus 

 allowing the disease to be carefully studied. 



It is a matter of experience that scurvy is due to defective 

 quality of food, and not merely to a reduced supply. It is most 

 liable to occur on board ship or on expeditions where there is 

 an absence of fresh vegetables or fresh meat. Fresh meat and 

 fresh vegetables are both preventives and curatives of scurvy. 

 In the first Scott Expedition to the South Pole scurvy broke 

 out but was effectively cured by the administration of fresh seal 

 meat, fresh vegetables not being available. In Shackleton's 

 Expedition and Nansen's Expedition across Greenland, where 

 fresh seal meat was usually obtainable, no outbreak of scurvy 

 occurred. In the Arctic Expedition of 1875-6 scurvy broke 

 out because neither fresh vegetables nor seal meat were 

 obtainable. 



The conditions determining the appearance of the disease in 

 animals have been shown by Hoist and Frohlich (to whom most 

 of our knowledge of experimental scurvy is due) to be the 



