CHAPTER XXII 

 THE STORY OF LIME-JUICE AND SCURVY 



FROM mediaeval times onward a serious constitutional 

 disease — a morbid condition of the blood and tissues 

 — has been known by the name "scurvy," and the 

 word " scorbutic " has been coined from it. It is to-day 

 practically unknown in the ordinary conditions of civilized 

 life, but formerly was common, and the cause of disable- 

 ment and of frightful mortality in ships' crews, beleaguered 

 cities, armies on campaign, and war-stricken regions. It 

 begins with a certain failure of strength. Breathlessness, 

 exhaustion, and mental depression follow. The face looks 

 haggard, sallow, and dusky. After some weeks the ex- 

 haustion becomes extreme; the gums are livid, ulcerated, 

 and bleeding; the teeth loosen and drop out; purple 

 spots appear on the skin ; ulcers break out on the limbs ; 

 effusions of blood-stained fluid take place in the great 

 cavities of the body ; profound exhaustion and coma 

 follow; and death results from disorganization of the 

 lungs, kidneys, or digestive tract. It was recognized in 

 early times that the disease was dependent on the 

 character of the food of those attacked by it ; and not ' 

 the least of the horrors accompanying it was the terror 

 caused by the well-founded conviction that the appearance 

 of a single case in a ship's crew or other specially circum- 

 scribed community was an unfailing index, and meant 

 that all were likely within a few days — owing to the 



enforced identity of their food and conditions of life — 



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