THE STORY OF LIME-JUICE AND SCURVY 231 



scurvy, and, in spite of the great expense and difficulties 

 entailed, adopted its use officially. In those days of 

 sailing-ships, long voyages (such as those of Captain Cook) 

 were safely carried through without serious outbreak of 

 scurvy so long as a ration of so-called " lime-juice " (about 

 one ounce) was swallowed each day by each sailor. But 

 it was not until the beginning of the nineteenth century 

 that the disease was practically eliminated from the Navy 

 by the introduction (after many foolish delays) of a 

 general issue of what was called " lime-juice." 



The complete control and elimination of scurvy by 

 the use of so-called "lime-juice" sufficed to carry us on 

 until the introduction of steam navigation, when it became 

 superfluous owing to the fact that long absence from land, 

 where fresh food could be obtained, ceased to be usual. 

 Moreover, after a mutiny on the part of our defrauded 

 sailors, better food and greater variety of it was secured 

 for them, and the profits of murderous contractors were 

 stopped. 



The history of outbreaks of scurvy for the last 

 century is practically confined to the experiences of Arctic 

 Expeditions and the campaigning of troops in remote or 

 devastated regions. So little had scurvy been investigated, 

 or any serious study made of the nature of the remedial 

 and preventive action of lime-juice, that up to the year 

 1914 it was regarded as a matter of course that the acid, 

 the citric acid, of lime-juice was what gave to it its virtue, 

 and samples of lime-juice supplied by contractors were 

 tested solely as to the percentage of that acid present. 

 Eminent medical authorities proposed to use crystals 

 of citric acid in place of the juice; others declared that 

 vinegar would do just as well ; others, in spite of the 

 overwhelming record as to the value of lime-juice, held 

 that scurvy was due not to the absence of a food con- 

 stituent supplied by fresh vegetables and fruit-juice 



