Scurvy is a disease that is caused by not eating enough vitamin C, which is contained in fresh vegetables, fruit and milk. Early symptoms include feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, the victim's skin and hair dries up, their teeth may loosen and even fall out and they may bleed from the mouth, nose, and gums. As scurvy worsens there can be poor wound healing, and finally death from infection or bleeding.
The Ancient Egyptians recorded scurvy's symptoms as early as 1550 BC and the disease was later documented by Hippocrates.
In 1498 Vasco Da Gama became the first European to reach India by sea. There was an outbreak of scurvy that killed so many of his men that due to a shortage of crewmen, he was forced to burn one of his ships.
When Ferdinand Magellan became the first person to reach Asia by sailing westwards across the Atlantic and Pacific, scurvy ran rampant amongst many of his crew. Magellan noted that the destructive effect of scurvy on his men was that "gums grew so over their teeth that they died miserably for hunger."
In 1536, the French explorer Jacques Cartier, travelling up the St. Lawrence River, used the local natives' knowledge to save his men who were dying of scurvy. The Canadian Indians were able to show him how to cure the disease with by drinking a "tea" made from pine needles and eating the bark and leaves of a tree. Pine needles have approximately 3 to 5 times more vitamin C than an orange.
Basque whalers and sailors didn’t die of scurvy because they drank 2-3 liters of cider everyday which, unbeknownst to them, contains vitamin C.
During the Seven Years War (1754–63), 1,512 British soldiers were killed in action and 100,000 died from scurvy.
The Scottish naval surgeon James Lind published his Treatise of the Scurvy in 1753, in which he showed the effectiveness of citrus fruits in preventing the disease. Lind was aware that the Dutch had employed citrus fruits for several centuries and his discoveries came as a result of searching for objective evidence of the healing effects of such fruits by doing experiments.
Captain James Cook lost 41 of his 98 men to scurvy on his first voyage to the Pacific in 1768. Inspired by Lind's findings the British explorer introduced lemon and lime juice, carrot marmalade and unfermented malt. Cook also placed on the deck of his ship a large barrel containing sauerkraut (cabbage reserved in brine, an unpopular food due to its German origins). To encourage his men to eat it he placed a notice on the barrel "FOR USE OF THE CAPTAIN AND OFFICER'S ONLY"
The crafty plan worked. No one caught scurvy and each night the levels of sauerkraut slowly decreased. Cook also made sure his men had clean and well-ventilated living quarters and their bedding and clothes was aired twice a week.
Only one sailor died of scurvy on Cook's last two voyages.
By the end of the eighteenth century, the importance of eating citrus to prevent scurvy was acknowledged and Sir Gilbert Blane made the use of lemon and lime juice mandatory in the British navy.
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| Page from the journal of Henry Walsh Mahon showing effects of scurvy (1841) |
The Ancient Egyptians recorded scurvy's symptoms as early as 1550 BC and the disease was later documented by Hippocrates.
In 1498 Vasco Da Gama became the first European to reach India by sea. There was an outbreak of scurvy that killed so many of his men that due to a shortage of crewmen, he was forced to burn one of his ships.
When Ferdinand Magellan became the first person to reach Asia by sailing westwards across the Atlantic and Pacific, scurvy ran rampant amongst many of his crew. Magellan noted that the destructive effect of scurvy on his men was that "gums grew so over their teeth that they died miserably for hunger."
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| Scorbutic gums |
In 1536, the French explorer Jacques Cartier, travelling up the St. Lawrence River, used the local natives' knowledge to save his men who were dying of scurvy. The Canadian Indians were able to show him how to cure the disease with by drinking a "tea" made from pine needles and eating the bark and leaves of a tree. Pine needles have approximately 3 to 5 times more vitamin C than an orange.
Basque whalers and sailors didn’t die of scurvy because they drank 2-3 liters of cider everyday which, unbeknownst to them, contains vitamin C.
During the Seven Years War (1754–63), 1,512 British soldiers were killed in action and 100,000 died from scurvy.
The Scottish naval surgeon James Lind published his Treatise of the Scurvy in 1753, in which he showed the effectiveness of citrus fruits in preventing the disease. Lind was aware that the Dutch had employed citrus fruits for several centuries and his discoveries came as a result of searching for objective evidence of the healing effects of such fruits by doing experiments.
 |
| A portrait of Scottish doctor James Lind (1716–1794) |
Captain James Cook lost 41 of his 98 men to scurvy on his first voyage to the Pacific in 1768. Inspired by Lind's findings the British explorer introduced lemon and lime juice, carrot marmalade and unfermented malt. Cook also placed on the deck of his ship a large barrel containing sauerkraut (cabbage reserved in brine, an unpopular food due to its German origins). To encourage his men to eat it he placed a notice on the barrel "FOR USE OF THE CAPTAIN AND OFFICER'S ONLY"
The crafty plan worked. No one caught scurvy and each night the levels of sauerkraut slowly decreased. Cook also made sure his men had clean and well-ventilated living quarters and their bedding and clothes was aired twice a week.
Only one sailor died of scurvy on Cook's last two voyages.
By the end of the eighteenth century, the importance of eating citrus to prevent scurvy was acknowledged and Sir Gilbert Blane made the use of lemon and lime juice mandatory in the British navy.
The singer James Blunt developed scurvy at Bristol university when he ate only meat for eight weeks. Blunt started his carnivorous diet because he found himself surrounded by vegan and vegetarian classmates.
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