488 TIsE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



It is considered by many that scurvy, either alone or by increasing the severity 

 of other diseases, has proved more destructive to human life than any other 

 disorder. 



Scurvy occurs only when fresh vegetable food has been for some time partially 

 or completely withheld. Various complaints follow the want of other descriptions 

 of food, but scurvy never makes its appearance unless the supply of vegetables is 

 limited. 



The evidence on which this statement rests is of the most conclusive character, 

 and no doubt can be entertained as to its correctness. 



The year 1846, in which there was a failing of the potato crop in many parts 

 of the country, was remarkable for the prevalence of scurvy. The disease occurred 

 largely among the labourers employed in the construction of some of the Scotch 

 railways, and in many cases proved fatal. The men were, as a rule, earning good 

 wages, and were well fed ; indeed, their extravagance in good living was a frequent 

 subject of remark, but vegetables were in the majority of cases unattainable. 

 Their dinner usually consisted of bread, boiled beef or bacon, pea-soup or broth, 

 and suet puddings containing currants, and many of them were in the habit of 

 breakfasting off beef steaks and mutton chops. For all that, however, very few 

 of them had tasted potatoes since the failure of the crop, a period of over seven 

 months. 



In the same year in Ireland, where the disease proved very prevalent, it was 

 found that in a certain district four-fifths of the people attacked were living on 

 bread and tea or coffee, and that the remainder had nothing additional but a little 

 grain or an occasional piece of meat or fish. In no single instance could it be 

 discovered that potatoes or green vegetables formed an habitual article of the 

 sufferer's diet. 



The allied armies of England, France, Turkey, and Sardinia suffered severely 

 from scurvy during the Crimean war. The total number of our men admitted into 

 the hospitals with scurvy during the war amounted to considerably over 2,000 ; but 

 we are told on authority that " the returns convey but a faint conception of the 

 disastrous part which it acted among the troops, for although it comparatively 

 rarely presented itself in well-defined forms, and as an independent infection, yet 

 the prevalence of scorbutic taint was wide-spread, and in a vast proportion of cases 

 evident indications of it existed as a complication of other diseases, especially fever 

 and affections of the bowels." Sad as this history is, it is satisfactory to note that 

 when fresh vegetables and lime-juice were served out, the complaint almost entirely 

 disappeared. The sufferings of the French from scurvy were much greater than 

 those of our troops ; and it is said that among them no less than 23,000 cases 

 occurred. It is probable that the Turks suffered even still more severely, and there 

 is no doubt that the original force which formed part of the expedition from Bulgaria 

 to the Crimea was almost entirely swept off by disease, of which scurvy formed an 

 important element. 



During the last American war, raw potatoes preserved in molasses were fre- 

 quently issued to the troops, and were found to be of signal service in warding off 

 scurvy. It is true the disease prevailed to a great extent in the United States 



