SCURVY. 



Otlier circumftances, both on (hip-board and on land, by 

 impairing the general vigour of the conllitution, confpire 

 to produce the fcurvy. Thus it was obferved to be en- 

 demic at particular places in Holland, while others, where 

 the fame diet was ufed, remained entirely free from it. 

 RonlTccus, a very able and accurate writer on the fubjeft, 

 remarks, that it was much more frequent in his time at 

 Amderdam and Alcmaer, than at Goude and Rotterdam ; 



d at Dort was hardly ever to be feen. He obferved, 



i.'ed, that univerfally in all parts of the country, where 

 the foil was fenny and damp, it raged with the greatelt 

 violence ; and that the weather had great influence upon it, 



utherly winds, if long continued, multiplying the difeafe, 

 cii.d rainy feafons rendering it quite epidemic and malignant. 

 The changes that have taken place in the condition of the 

 land, and in the mode of living, fince the wealth of Hol- 

 land has incrcafed, have rendered the difeafe much lefs 

 frequent, and have confined it almoft exclufively to the 

 })oor, who inhabit the low damp parts of the provinces, 

 and continue to live upon dried meat and coarfe bread, 

 Hid to drink unwholefome ftagnant water. 



The effeft of certain depreffing paflions, not only in pre- 

 Jifpofmg to the fcurvy, but in exciting and aggravating 

 it, ha; been ftrongly manifeiled. Vander Mye exhibits a 

 curious and diverfified pifture of the operations of the paf- 

 iions of the mind during the famous fiege of Breda, when 

 tl;c fcurvy committed great havoc in that town. Upon 

 the report of bad news, it always fpread aftonifhingly : 

 but it was in a manner altogether checked by the arrival 

 or agreeable intelligence. And the writer of lord Anfon's 

 voyage obferves, " it was mod remarkable in all our re- 

 iterated experience of this malady, that whatever dif- 

 couraged our people, or at any time damped their hopes, 

 never failed to add nev vigour to the dillemper ; for it 

 ufually killed thofe who were in the laft. ftages of it, and 

 confined thofe to their hammocks, who were before capable 

 of fome kind of duty ; fo that it feemed as if alacrity of 

 mind and fanguine thoughts were no contemptible preferva- 

 tives from its fatal malignity." 



On the Prevention and Cure of Scurvy. — It is cuftomary 

 in medical difcuflions, after dating the fymptoms and caufes 

 of any difeafe, to proceed to point out the effential nature, 

 or proximate caufe, as it is technically termed, of the 

 malady, before treating of the method of cure, which 

 ihould generally be deduced from the confideration of thi:; 

 whole of thefe circumdances taken together. In this cafe, 

 however, we can fcarcely difcufs the nature of the proxi- 

 mate caufe, without a previous knowledge of the means 

 by which the malady is prevented or removed ; fince theic 

 means tend to elucidate the nature of the fymptoms which 

 they remedy. We (hall, therefore, firll detail the means 

 of prevention and cure. 



The prevention of fcurvy will conQd chiefly in remov- 

 ing or countcradting the prcdifpofing and exciting caufes, 

 which have already been enumerated. Much is done, there- 

 fore, by preferving a due degree of general health in the 

 individuals cxpofed to the exciting caufes ; and clpecially 

 by avoiding cold and moillure, by means of proper cloth- 

 ing, warm cabins, &c. ; and by avoiding indolence and in- 

 aftivity on tiie one hand, and over-fatigue, watching, &c. on 

 the other. The effedts of the former are exempliiied in the 

 comparative exemption of even the petty officers in a diip 

 of war, while the crew fuffer feverely. " The Channel 

 fleet," fays Dr. Milman, " has often buried a hundred men 

 in a cruize, and landed a thoufand more afllifted with 

 fcurvy, and yet among thefe there has not been a petty 

 officer. How does the condition of the petty officer differ 



Vol. XXXII. 



from that of the common failor ? The one 33 well at the 

 other is obhged to live on the (hip's provifions. The only 

 difference is, that the petty oificcrs fleep in clofe births, as 

 they are called, with canvas hung round, by which they 

 are (heltered from the inclemencies of the weather. Bcfides 

 the advantage of warm cabins, they are more warmly clad, 

 and having a greater plenty of clothes to diift, they are 

 lefs liable to continue wet, or to be fo unclean as the com- 

 mon men." (Milman on Scurvy, p. 31.) But the fecu- 

 rity from fcurvy, obtained by attention to thefe points of 

 general health, was mod drikingly manifeded in the judi- 

 cious management of captain Cook, by which he was en- 

 abled to repeat the voyage, in which the fcurvy had proved 

 fo fatal to lord Anfon's crew, without lofing any men by 

 that difeafe. The great navigator ftudied and enforced the 

 rules of general health with great alllduity, and his fuccefj 

 was complete. He was efpecially careful to guard againll 

 the too great fatigue of liis men, and to fccure them as 

 much as podible from the effefts of cold and moilture. In 

 the fird place, he divided them into three watches indead 

 of two, (except upon fome extraordinary occafions,) by 

 which means they had eight hours red for four of duty, 

 and did not get the broken fleep, which men in their fitua- 

 tions have generally obtained. They had thus time to re- 

 cruit their drength before they were fummoned to return 

 to their labour, and they were likewife thus lefs expofed 

 to the weather, than if they had been at watch and watch. 

 If the men got wet, they had generally dry clothes pro- 

 vided to fliift themfelves. Proper methods were taken to 

 keep the ftiips clean, and dry between decks. The ham- 

 mocks and bedding, every day that was fair, were not only 

 ordered upon deck, but each bundle was unlaflied, and fo 

 fpread out, that every part might be expofed to the air. 

 Befides the ordinary methods of wafliing and fcraping the 

 decks, captain Cook had fome wood put into a proper 

 dove, kindled, and carried fucceflivcly to every part below 

 deck ; which not only contributed to dry the fliip, but by 

 heating the impure air below, and rendering it fpetifically 

 lighter than the common air, to make it rife and pals 

 through the hatchways into the atmofphere. In the tor- 

 rid zone, he Ihaded his people from the fcorching fun, by 

 an awning over his de(;k ; while in his courfe imdcr the 

 antardlic circle, he had a coat provided of a fubdantial 

 woollen ftuff, with the addition of a hood to cover their 

 heads. The Ruflian boor, Dr. Milman remarks, fecms to 

 be greatly indebted to (iinilar nvans for his prclervation 

 from the fcurvy : for, ihouyli he lives in an extremely cold 

 climate, cats a good deal of falted meats, has no frefh vege- 

 tables for fix months of the year, and breathes during that 

 time tlie foul air of an unvcntilated apartment ; yet, cloth- 

 ing himfelf in warm flannels, covering himfelf at ni^ht 

 with warm flicep-fl<in3, providing for his clcanlin<>fs with 

 the regular ufe of the warm bath, he is feldom afllitlcd 

 with this calamity. 



Captain Cook alfo attended to the nutriment of his meii. 

 Hard and falted meats require aflldance in their folution 

 and digedion in the doniach, and a plentiful fupply of 

 water was always carefully provided hv him. Salt-water, 

 indeed, may be rendered fweet by diilillation, which de- 

 privcs it of its faline parts, and may be made more palat- 

 able by impregnation witli carljonic acid gas, or with robs 

 and acid juices. This method, however, was not known 

 to captain Cook. In attending to the diet of his men, he 

 would not fun"er the fat, whicli is boiled out of fait bci-f 

 and pork, to be given to his men, as is cudomary. It did 

 not cfcapc that fagacious officer's notice, that fuch groft 

 indigeftiblc matters had a great tendency to excite fcuny. 



