THE SUPPLY OF PURE MILK 295 



being the proper quantities of flesh-forming and heat- 

 giving substance, are found to be erroneous. 



Take another case — that of the disease known as 

 " scurvy." The word " scurvy " means " afflicted with 

 scurf, mean and dirty." It was applied to persons 

 afflicted by this particular disease, and a Latin medical 

 word, " Scorbutus," was made from it in the Middle 

 Ages, which survives as " scorbutic " at the present day. 

 Scurvy was formerly very common on board ship, in 

 beleaguered armies, in prisons, and in other conditions 

 in which men's food was limited to dried and salted, 

 often badly preserved, meat and biscuit, or stale bread. 

 Its real causation is not even now agreed upon : some 

 holding that it was due to actual poisoning by the 

 badly preserved food, others that it was due to the 

 absence of certain elements — only to be obtained from 

 fresh meat or fresh vegetables. Others think that it 

 was caused by a bacterium. The victim of scurvy 

 becomes much debilitated, the gums become spongy 

 and ulcerated, and extravasations of blood are found 

 in all parts of the body, often leading to ulceration. 

 In the old times a whole ship's crew of the Navy 

 would be attacked by it, and half or more died before 

 a port could be reached and fresh food obtained. It 

 was found that the use of fresh vegetables, fresh meat, 

 and the juice of fruits prevented its outbreak, and cured 

 it when once started. For one hundred and fifty years 

 it has been held in check by the use of lime-juice as a 

 drink whenever supplies of fresh vegetables and meat 

 run short. It has now become so unusual a disease 

 that there has been no proper study of it in the- light 

 of modern knowledge. 



It seems to be essentially the same condition of 



