26 THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 
Lhe Discovery of Vitamins. 
At the present time, three, and possibly four, distinct vitamins have been 
described and studied, and it is probably only a matter of time for others 
to be discovered. 
The discovery of vitamins dates to the middle of the 18th century. 
In 1747 James Lind, a surgeon in the British Navy, carried out a series of 
experimental observations upon sailors suffering from scurvy, the concep- 
tion and performance of which were entirely admirable. By appropriate 
control experiments he showed that the medical means in vogue for the 
treatment of the disease were futile, when not harmful, but that orange 
and lemon juices were a specific cure. Lind attempted to ascertain the 
relative anti-scorbutic value of various fruits and green vegetables, but was 
unable to observe a ‘superior virtue’ in one rather than in another. He 
confirmed Kramer’s observations made at the beginning of the 18thcentury, 
during the war between the Turks and the Holy Roman Empire, that dried 
vegetables were useless, and adopts the explanation of his friend Cockburn 
‘that no moisture whatever could restore the natural juices of the plant 
lost by evaporation,’ which Cockburn imagined were ‘ altered by a fer- 
mentation which they underwent in drying.’ 
Lind was struck with the beneficial effect of cow’s milk in the treatment 
of scurvy. He explained it on the supposition of the milk ‘ being a truly 
vegetable liquor, an emulsion prepared of the most succulent wholesome 
herbs.’ 
Lind applied himself to the applications of these discoveries for the 
prevention of scurvy in the Navy, and recommended lemon-juice con- 
centrated to a syrup by evaporation to be carried in all ships and served 
out to the sailors. 
By the beginning of the 19th century the carriage of lemon-juice was 
made compulsory, first in the Navy and subsequently in the mercantile 
marine, with the result that the ravages of scurvy were prevented. With 
the advent of steam traction, too, the length of voyages was curtailed and 
supplies of fresh provisions were obtained at more frequent intervals. 
Scurvy became rare, and the medical profession, being no longer faced with 
this disease of dietary deficiency, soon forgot the significance of Lind’s 
discoveries. 
Before leaving this subject a curious fact may be related. The lemon- 
juice supplied to the Navy was at first made from lemons grown in Spain 
and the Mediterranean countries. Afterwards, when England took over 
