Europeans were learning through travel and trade that scurvy was due to 

 the lack of something which soldiers and sailors and long-trail wanderers 

 were unable to get. By about 1750 the Dutch, interested in the East Indies 

 trade, and the British, with their expanding navy, had discovered that fresh 

 fruit and fruit juices helped to keep their sailors well. But on long naval 

 voyages scurvy continued to injure large numbers of the forces. 



The famous Captain John Cook, in his voyage around the world, man- 

 aged to keep his crew in very good condition for over three years through 

 the use of lime-juice. For this achievement he received a medal from the 

 Royal Admiralty in 1776. Within twenty years the use of lime-juice or 

 lemon-juice became obligatory in all the ships of the British navy, with 

 satisfactory results in preventing scurvy. That's how the British sailor 

 became a limy. 



For over a hundred years nobody knew just what the connection is be- 

 tween scurvy and lime-juice. Is it the citric acid.? Is it the oil of lemon ."^ 

 Is it the mineral salts ? Is it some of the other organic materials ? 



How Vitamins Were Discovered^ Ancient Chinese records describe a 

 disease common among poor folks who managed somehow to exist on the 

 very edge of starvation. This is the "beriberi" of the Far East. 



Beriberi prevailed in one situation or another in China and Japan until 

 recent times. After Pasteur established his ''germ theory", beriberi was sus- 

 pected of being an infectious disease. But as Oriental physicians learned to 

 use European methods, they made sure experimentally that this is noi 

 the case. 



BERIBERI, OR POLYNEURITIS, IN PIGEONS 



Growing pigeons fed only white, or "polished", rice and water lose appetite and 

 weight. After a short period of time they lose control of their bodies and at times 

 draw back their necks in typical polyneuritic fits. Such animals can be quickly re- 

 stored to health by feeding them vitamin Bi or brown rice 



^See Nos. 2, 3 and 4, p. 112. 



104 



