67 



38. Dr. Bellingham* has announced similar views. "It is clear," 

 he says, " therefore, that the cause of the present epidemic may be 

 traced to the absence of the potatoe from the dietary of the poor, 

 and it is equally clear, that a diet of bread, with or without meat, 

 or broth, is incapable of preserving the body in health, and tends to 

 develop scurvy." Facts, he says, upset the theory of Liebig, that, 

 as carbon, the principal constituent of fat, is abundant in potatoes; 

 whereas, the constituents of bone and muscle are found in peas, 

 beans, oats, barley, rye, wheat, &c, more plentifully; that, therefore, 

 these latter are more fit for a labouring population as articles of 

 food. "Indeed," he says, "if all we read about nitrogenized and 

 non-nitrogenized articles of food were correct, the potatoe would have 

 fallen into disrepute long since." Whereas, "for more than half a 

 century, it has been the sole food of the great majority of the pea- 

 santry of the country (Ireland); and we believe a healthier, hardier 

 population was to be met with in few countries — contrasting sadly 

 with their present altered aspect, after a diet for some months com- 

 posed of more highly nitrogenized substances." 



34. Dr. Ritchief also considers "deficiency of potatoes and suc- 

 culent vegetables as the most efficient cause." In those forms of the 

 disease in which the superadded symptoms are not so severe as to 

 call for the undivided or the especial care of the physician, his treat- 

 ment was diet regulated on principles deducible from his views of 

 the causes of the disease, and the use of lemon juice or citric acid. 



35. Dr. CurranJ takes similar views. " In four-fifths of his cases, 

 at least, the diet had been bread, with tea or coffee; and in no sin- 

 gle instance could he discover that green vegetables or potatoes had 

 formed part of their dietary." He treated the disease with lemon 

 juice, nitrate of potash, and vinegar. 



36. Dr. Christison§ agrees with all the other writers, that error 

 in diet is the cause of the disease, but considers that the indispensable 

 article is milk. 



37. Dr. Foltz, in his excellent report on the scurvy in the United 

 States squadron in the Gulf of Mexico, printed in the American 

 Journal, attributes the disease to the absence of vegetables; and 



* Dub. Med. Press, 1847. f Edinburgh Monthly Journal, 1847. 



J Dublin Quarterly Journal, 1847. § Edinburgh Monthly Journal, 1S47. 



