SCURVY. 



Thus, then, by an attention to cleanlinefs and ventilation, 

 by guarding agaiiift fatigue, cold, heat, wet, &c. and by 

 providing at all times plenty of frefh water, captain Cook's 

 feamen lived with impunity on their felt provifions. And 

 a fimilar inftance is mentioned by Dr. Trotter, in the cafe 

 of the Intrepid, a (hip of fixty-four guns, with a comple- 

 ment of five hundred men, in lord Rodney's fleet, which 

 did not lofe a man, except from wounds, for the fpace of 

 two years and a half. " This (hip was in a very fickly 

 Hate when captain MoUoy took the command ot her ; 

 but by the complete mode of difcipline, and attention to 

 the cleanlinefs of the crew and Ihip, which he eftabhfhed, 

 health was preferved in a climate reputed to be unwhole- 

 fome ; and that too, when expofed to the hardlhips which 

 follow a ftate of frequent or conftant preparation for ac- 

 tion." (Trotter on the Scurvy.) Even where the ex- 

 citing caufes exill, therefore, the fcurvy may be prevented 

 by extraordinary and continued difcipline in the care of the 

 general health. 



Something ftill further, however, has been attempted, in 

 the way of prevention, by diminifhing the extent of the 

 chief exciting caufe ; although it may be queftioned, whe- 

 ther much has been effedted in this way. The Dutch were 

 fuppofed to have preferved their feamen from fcurvy by 

 the ufe of four trout with their fait proviiions, and this 

 article was recommended to the Britilh navy by Dr. Lind : 

 but it is prepared by a fort of fermentation, which pro- 

 duces the acidity ; and this fort of acetous acid, the pro- 

 duft of fermentation, does not appear to be a fubftitute for 

 the acid of frefh vegetables. Dr. Trotter, however, is of 

 opinion, that the virtues of this fubftance as an antifcorbutic 

 are very trifling, and that it has coft the government in its pre- 

 paration more than it is worth. Another fubltance has alfo 

 been employed in the Britifli fleet, as a fubllitute for frefh 

 vegetables in preventing fcurvy, on the recommendation of 

 Dr. M'Bride, viz. the ejfence or extrafi of malt. It was 

 recommended upon the hypothetical notion, that it con- 

 tained much of the cementing principle, as he called it, or 

 that principle which, when prefent in animal and vegetable 

 fubftances, prevents the procefs of putrefadion ; and that 

 by reftoring this principle to the blood, the difeafes, which 

 aiife, like fcurvy, from a putrid diathefis, (thus heaping 

 hypothefis upon hypothefis,) would be prevented and cured. 

 The truth, tiowever, is, that there is little or no carbonic 

 Bcid in this fubftance ; and the favourable accounts received 

 at the admiraltv of its beneficial effefts, which induced 

 them to eflablifh the ufe of elFence of wort as a part of 

 naval viftualling, are to be afcribed rather to its being a 

 wholefome, nutritious, and digeltible fubftance, confifting 

 principally of vegetable mucilage with fome fugar, than to 

 any fpircific antifcorbutic propertie<:. This appears to be 

 the opinion of Dr. Trotttr, and Dr. Lmd fpeaks of it 

 only as " a very nourifhing liquor, well adapted for fcorbutic 

 patients." It does not appear, however, that thefe articles 

 are fufScient fubilitutes for frefh vegetable productions ; 

 and they certainly do rot poflefs the lame powers, with the 

 latter, of curing the fcurvy, when it already exiils. With 

 the proper acids, which nave been generally adopted iince 

 the time of captain Cook, they contribute to the fiipport 

 of the general health, and therefore to the prevention of 

 fcurvy. 



Tliere is another fpecies of vegetable matter, however, 

 which appears in (erne meafure to fupply the particular 

 fubftance, which frefh vegetables afford, and which is ufed 

 both as a preventive and a cure for the fcurvy, namely, 

 the acid of limes, lemons, and other fimilar fruits, which 

 the art of chemiltry has for iorae time fupplitd in a concrete 



ftate. Thefe fubftances, we believe, are now confidered 

 as among the neceffaries for a long voyage, and are pro- 

 bably much more efficient than the four krout, eflence of 

 malt, &c. 



Cure of Scurvy. — When the preventive meafures have 

 been neglefted, or ineffeftually employed, and the difeafe has 

 already appeared, it is very difficult to remove it, while the 

 circumftancesof diet, &c. remain unchanged. Where thefe 

 circumftances, however, admit of a change, experience has 

 fhewn that the cure is very fimple, and often very expedi- 

 tious. A pure, dry, warm air, with the ufe oi frefh vege- 

 tables, almoft of any fort, commonly proves effeftual. The 

 inllin<ftive feelings of thefick, indeed, direct them ftrongly to 

 the ufe of the chief remedy ; tor there is perliaps no defire fo 

 intenfe as that which the fcorbutic patient feels for the ufe of 

 green vegetables, fruits, and acids ; infomuch that the failors of 

 lord Anion's fliips greedily devoured X.h<: grafs, which was the 

 firil vegetable matter obtained. The vegetables and fruits 

 which contain the greateft proportion of acid, are the moit 

 effeftual remedies for the fymptoms of fea-fcurvy ; wtience 

 forrel and fuch like plants, but above all limes, lemons, 

 oranges, apples, currants, &c. aft in a manner as^y^ffj/fcx in 

 relieving the difeafe. All fucculent vegetables, and thofe 

 efpecially which are of an arcmatic nature, are ufeful, parli- 

 cularly when combined with the acid ones ; whence fcurvy- 

 grafs, horfe-radifh, cieftes, purflam, and the tftradynamise, 

 are ranked among the antifcorbutics, and numerous plants 

 have been fpecified by different writers as poflefTed of fpecial 

 virtues. On the whole, however, the acid juices appear to 

 be moft fpeedy and eff, tiual remedies lor fcurvy, efpecially 

 thofe which approach to the nature of the citric acid. 



The teltimonies in favour of the fpecific curative powers 

 of thefe acids in fcurvy are fo numerous as to leave no doubt 

 of the faft. Even Dr. Lind, with whofe hypothefis re- 

 fpefting the nature of the difeafe the faft was not quite 

 compatible, admits, in his poitfcript, their linking efficacy. 

 " To what has been already faid," he obferves, «« of the 

 virtues of oranges a:id lemons in this difeafe, I have now to 

 add, that in feemingly the moft defperate cafes, the moft 

 quick and fenfible relief was obtained from lemon-juice ; by 

 which I have relieved many hundred patients, labouring 

 under almoft intolerable pain and affliAion from this difeafe, 

 when no other remedy ft-emed to avail." As the acid is apt 

 to operate violently upon the ftomach and bowels of thofe 

 who are much weakened. Dr. Liiid recommends tht- addition 

 of wine and fugar, as couftituting the bcft antifcorbutic, 

 and was in the practice of ordering about four ounces and a 

 half of lime or lemon-juice, and two ounces ff fugar, to be 

 put into a pint of Malaga wine, which was futficient for any 

 weak patient to take in twenty-four hours. 



Dr. Trotter teftifies the extraordinary cure of thefe fcor- 

 butic fymptoms by the ufe of thefe acids, even though at 

 the fame time they produce a very lax or purging ftate of 

 the bowels, and fome degree of emaciation ; while, on the 

 other hand, the ufe of frefh animal food, ftrong broths, and 

 wine, produces comparatively very little benefit upon fcor- 

 butic perfons, although debility is the moft marked fymptom 

 of the difeafe. This diet and the Peruvian bark will often 

 produce no favourable change upon fcorbutic ulcers, and 

 the moft powerful ftimulant apphcations will not alter the 

 condition of thefe fores : yet in lefs than twenty-four hours 

 after the ufe of lemon-juice, the livid complexion of the 

 fores, with the black clot of blood on their furface, will 

 often difappear, and they will put on a florid and healthy 

 charader. The farther effetts of the lemon acid are thus 

 defcribed by Dr. Trotter. " The patient in the inveterate 

 ftage of the difeafe feeras to gather Itrength even from the 



fight 



