1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 179 



ily crossed, a shiny black square obliterating each com- 

 pletely, with a fervent "Thank God!" 



"Work" was now the word. To maintain our health 

 during the dark, blustering months to come, meat must 

 be secured — fresh meat — the great and efficient prevent- 

 ive of that formerly dreaded disease, scurvy, fatal to 

 hundreds of Arctic men and thwarting the well-laid 

 plans of many a commander. It is an insidious malady 

 and but little understood up to the last few years; it 

 is not caused by subsisting on salt meats nor by not 

 varying the diet with vegetables, fruits, acids, and the 

 like, nor by the lack of exercise and uncleanliness in 

 habits; it is chiefly due to a lack of the so-called vita- 

 mines. In plain words, a certain proportion of one's 

 food must consist of something fresh. 



"I lay very ill for a month and thought I would 

 die. One day the Lapp saw a seal and he ran, carrying 

 a pail with him, and shot it and caught the blood in 

 the pail. I drank that and immediately began to re- 

 vive. I shall now get well," relates one of the survivors 

 of a party of four found in Spitzbergen. 



The deep-water sailor of years ago ate largely of so- 

 called "salt horse"; scurvy was the result. The vita- 

 mines were lacking. Lime-juice was considered by the 

 medical profession as a sure preventive; consequently, 

 laws were enacted compelling whaling-ships to issue as 

 a part of the daily ration this anti-scorbutic, hence the 

 term "lime-juicer" as appHed to this type of craft. 

 Some years ago, seventeen Arctic men were found dead 

 among an abundance of food, the last survivor in a 

 sitting posture, dressed in furs, holding in his mittened 

 hands a junk of salt pork. 



On the British Expedition of 1875-76, the men daily 



