THE LAST OF THE JEANNETTE. 559 



our steward is very ill indeed. The doctor says he is a 

 little disturbed also, and Chipp has had a sharp touch of 

 it. No less than six people, and the sledge party yet 

 to hear from. Suspicion was first directed to the wa- 

 ter, for as all joints about the distiller are red leaded 

 to make them tight, we fear that some of the lead was 

 carried over with the steam and deposited in the re- 

 ceiver. This, unfortunately, cannot be entirety avoided, 

 though it may be reduced. Then I examined all ves- 

 sels in which drinking water is carried or tea and cof- 

 fee made, and I put out of commission all having any 

 solder patches, substituting iron vessels lined with 

 porcelain. But upon examining our tomatoes, they 

 were found to show traces of lead in larger amounts 

 than the water, and the doctor thinks that the distem- 

 per, if I may so call it, is due to our large consumption 

 of that vegetable. The acid of the tomato acts chem- 

 ically upon the solder used in the tins, and the danger- 

 ous mixture is formed ; and since we have had tomatoes 

 every day for dinner subsequent to May 4th, it is as- 

 sumed that we have become largely dosed with lead, 

 and some of us have had to succumb. Inasmuch as we 

 all eat tomatoes, the exemption of the majority is due 

 to their greater capacity for lead, I suppose, for no good 

 reason presents itself to my mind. It has transpired 

 that the steward, who is the worst case, is remarkably 

 fond of this vegetable, and eats of it unsparingly. Of 

 course we have eaten tomatoes four times a week ever 

 since our commissioning, and until May 4th, without 

 any bad result, but that does not prove anything. A 

 very interesting question here comes in. Our canned 

 fruits have, I believe, similar chemical action upon the 

 lead soldering, and no doubt we are absorbing more or 

 less lead all the time. Now does this chemical action 



