NOTES  ON  LEMON-JUICE  AND  ITS  DECOMPOSITION.  75 
NOTES  ON  LEMON-JUICE  AND  ITS  DECOMPOSITION. 
By  W.  W.  Stoddart,  F.G.S. 
The  long  continued  separation  which  a  sailor  afloat  endures 
from  all  that  is  fresh  and  varied  in  his  food,  especially  from  that 
of  a  vegetable  nature,  has  always  been  known  to  be  productive 
of  disease. 
For  many  years  the  physician  has  known  that  the  free  use  of 
fresh  vegetables,  or  a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  juice  contained 
in  the  hesperidia  of  lemons  {^Citrus  Limonum),  or  of  limes  [Citrus 
Limetta),  will  speedily  ensure  a  cure  of  the  unfortunate  patient. 
The  two  latter,  from  their  easy  preservation  and  portability, 
have  been  a  sine  qua  non  with  sailors — so  much  so,  that  the  ma- 
rine authorities  have  ordered  every  ship  to  have  in  its  stores  a 
quantity  proportionate  to  the  crew.  In  this  respect,  as  in  many 
others,  poor  Jack  has  been  grossly  victimized  by  the  rascality  of 
dishonest  dealers ;  probably  I  should  not  be  far  from  the  mark, 
if  I  said  that  half  the  liquid  sold  as  lemon  or  lime-juice  has  been 
a  mineral  rather  than  a  vegetable  production.  A  modern  author 
cooly  informs  us  that  an  artificial  solution  of  sulphuric  acid  is 
more  agreeable  to  the  nautical  palate  than  the  true  juice  ! 
As  long  ago  as  1795,  the  Admiralty  issued  orders  that  ships 
should  carry  a  supply  of  lime  or  lemon-juice,  but  ever  since  that 
time  this  well-meant  regulation  has  been  rendered  null  and  void 
by  the  wretched  trash  that  has  been  bought  and  sold.  An  im- 
mense quantity  of  lime  and  lemon-juice  being  required  in  the 
market,  and  the  supply  to  a  certain  extent  limited,  the  most 
abominable  and  fraudulent  adulterations  have  cruelly  been  the 
rule  instead  of  the  exception,  and  many  times  a  genuine  sample 
could  not  be  bought  at  any  price.  The  Board  of  Trade,  being 
aware  of  this,  wisely  resolved  to  pass,  in  the  present  year,  "  The 
Shipping  Act." 
This  compels  the  mate  of  every  foreign-going  ship  to  provide 
so  much  lime  or  lemon-juice,  that  each  man  may  have  at  least 
one  ounce  per  diem,  so  soon  as  the  vessel  has  been  ten  days  at 
sea.  That  for  forty  men,  1  gallon  should  be  kept;  for  sixty,  2 
gallons,  and  so  on.  It  goes  on  to  summarily  forbid  every  captain 
to  take  on  board  any  lime  or  lemon-juice  -that  has  not  been 
