Scurvy

The deadly effects of Scurvy

This Naval History continues on from: "The Great Gun"

The introduction into the Navy of canned provisions and the fridge/freezer, became necessary because; a diet composed exclusively of fat, salt meat and biscuit, washed down with rum, resulted in a deficiency of vitamen C, the very important vitamen found in fruit and fresh vegetables.

Immunity from deseases like Scurvy and dysentery was further weakened by low standards of cleanliness and poor living-conditions.

Scurvy itself affected sailors in different ways: blotches on the skin; pains in the joints; spongy and a swelling of the gums and bleeding; brittle bones; large spots are most abundant on the legs and thighs; an extraordinary lack of energy, combined with the emotion of low spirits.

"It caused a strange dejection of spirits, with shivering, tremblings, teeth falling out; and a disposition to be seized with the most dreadful result of the slightest accident." Notes one of the narrators of Anson's voyage.

"Many of our people though confined to their hammocks, were cheerful, and talked seemingly vigourously in a loud, strong voice; yet on their on the least moved, though it was from one part of a ship to another, and that too in their hammocks, they have immediately expired."

"Others who, confiding in their seemingly strength, have resolved to climb out of their hammocks, on their own, but, have died before they could reach the deck."

The mere smell of a person with Scurvy is dreadful, but a touch of mother earth seems to revive some; others pathetically lay about the decks, just rolling from side to side with the motion of the ship, until they are swept or in some cases shoved overboard.

The Great Gun

Long journeys were often Fatal

In those days a very long voyage was marked by some recurrence of the disease, but on some voyages the spread Scurvy was worse than others.

Perishable fruits and vegetables stored for longer periods than they were intended, foul air, along with a constant exposure to copper, played a significant part in forming the disease.

Anybody who took the trouble of the incidence of the disease (the naval authorities being the last people to do so) could say definitely that the longer the voyage the more certainty there was likely to be Scurvy; the dirtier the ship, and the more exhuasted the men, then the greater the number of deaths, you could be sure of.

A cure for Scurvy have been known in many native cultures since pre-history; it was described by Hippocrates as early as 460 BC. Before that the Egyptians recorded its symptoms as early as 1550 BC.

The knowledge that consuming foods containing vitamin C is a cure for Scurvy has been repeatedly re-discovered and re-forgotten right into the early 20th century. Scurvy was one of the limiting factors of marine travel, often killing large number of passengers and crew or on occasion wiping them out completely on long voyages.

In the 13th century, the Crusaders frequently suffered from Scurvy. In 1536, the French explorer Jacques Cartier, exploring the St. Lawrence River, used the local natives' knowledge to save his men who were dying of Scurvy.

He boiled the needles of the arbor vitae tree (Eastern White Cedar) to make a tea that was later shown to contain 50 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams. Such treatments were not available aboard ship, where the disease was most common.

Clear lessons were not Learnt

In 1499, Vasco da Gama lost 116 of his crew of 170; and in 1520, Magellan lost 208 out of 230 – all mainly to Scurvy. In the three centuries prior to 1800, it has been estimated that Scurvy killed at least two million sailors.

In 1593 Admiral Sir Richard Hawkins advocated drinking orange and lemon juice as a means of preventing Scurvy. In 1614 John Woodall, Surgeon General of the East India Company, published "The Surgion's Mate" as a handbook for apprentice surgeons aboard the company's ships.

In it he described Scurvy as resulting from a dietary deficiency. His recommendation for its cure was fresh food or, if not available, oranges, lemons, limes and tamarinds, or as a last resort, Oil of Vitriol (sulfuric acid).

The chief lesson to be learned from Anson's experience was that overcrowding was fatal. But the statistics collected by Vice-Admiral Boyle Somerville, in his excellent account of the voyage puts this to question.

Naturally the five-hundred decrepit Chelsea pensioners, which a criminally stupid administrator sent to sea, never stood the slightest chance of withstanding the rigours of a long Pacific voyage. But hadly any officer's died; none from Scurvy.

Large numbers of sailors died

In the "Anna" of four-hundred tons, with a crew of 16, not one died of Scurvy. In the "Tryall" of 200 tons, fifty-seven out of ninty-six men died before reaching the island of Juan Fernandez.

While in the "Gloucester" which carried a number of soldiers, two-hundred and seventy-eight out of three-hundred and ninty-six died.

Out of one-thousand nine-hundred and fifty-five men who sailed from England in seven ships,one-thousand and fifty-one died from Scurvy. Only one-hundred and forty-five returned in the "Centurion," the ship which succeeded sailing around the world.

Pizzaro's squadron, which was sent out to intercept Anson, seems to have suffered even worse; only one-hundred out of three-thousand Spaniards ever returned.

In the face of such catastrophic losses one asks why, if the disease was so well known, had nothing been done about it? Something had, but not by any of the navies.

The East Indiamen, were generally known as "Lime-Juicers" (possibly the origin of the American word "limey"), on account of their regular issue of lime juice, to quench thirst.

Now this appears to have been a misnomer, for it is the lemon and not the West Indian lime which possesses the anti-body properties that can defeat Scurvy. Again as early as 1634, Captain Boteler descibes it as "excellent against the scorbute" (Scurvy).

Still great numbers suffered

Every seaman new the value of fruit and fresh vegetables, and good commanders made use of the islands they touched to collect supplies of whatever was available.

But islands are not common in the north Pacific. The only medicine provided for Anson and his men was called "the Pill and Drop of Doctor Ward," it was a strong and violent laxative that worked in an extremely short time.

The worst casualties usually occurred before reaching the Pacific, on account of overcrowding and the exhausted state of the weakened men.

The correct diagnosis of the disease begins, not with Cook, as popular legend has it, but with Doctor James Lind's, written work dealing formally and systematically with the subject.

However, it was not until 1747 that James Lind formally proved that Scurvy could be treated and prevented by supplementing the diet with citrus fruit such as limes or lemons, though not by other acids, in one of the earliest European clinical trials. This solution was not adopted by the Royal Navy until the 1790s.

in 1753, Dr James Lind's researches were inspired by what Anson's men had suffered. In spite of the example set by Cook and his contemporary, Sir Gilbert Blane (principal medical officer in Rodney's fleet during the American war).

During the 18th century, Scurvy killed more British sailors than enemy action. It was mainly by Scurvy that George Anson, in his celebrated voyage of 1740–2, lost within the first ten months nearly two-thirds of his crew (1300 out of 2000).

throughout the Seven Years War, the Royal Navy reported that it conscripted 184,899 sailors, of whom 133,708 died of disease or were 'missing', and Scurvy was stated to be the principal disease.

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At last common sense prevails

James Cook succeeded in circumnavigating the world (1768–71) in HM Bark "Endeavour" without losing a single man to Scurvy.

More important was Cook's regime of shipboard cleanliness, enforced by strict discipline, as well as frequent replenishment of fresh food.

The most effective regime implemented by Cook was his prohibition against the consumption of fat scrubbed from the ship's copper pans, then a common practice in the Navy.

In contact with the hot copper, this fat acquired substances which possibly irritated the gut and prevented proper absorption of vitamins.

At least seventy men died on board the "Centurion" because, even when they reached the latitude of the Juan Fernandez island, their ignorance of latitude, was such that they spent eleven days finding out if they were east or west of the island.

The men of the "Gloucester" were so weak that she took no less than fourteen days to reach her anchorage after sighting it. As for the "Severn," her captain declared on her return that when he thought he was steering for the rendezvous in Chile he found himself off the coast of Patagonia on the opposite side of the continent.

The eradication of Scurvy from the Royal Navy in the 1790s was finally due to the chairman of the Navy's Sick and Hurt Board, Gilbert Blane, who finally put Bachstrom and Lind's long-ignored prescription of fresh lemons to use during the Napoleonic Wars. Other navies soon adopted this successful solution.

The plant Cochlearia officinalis, also known as "Common Scurvygrass", acquired its common name derives from the observation that it cured Scurvy, and it was taken on board ships in dried bundles or distilled extracts.

Its very bitter taste was usually disguised with herbs and spices; however, this didn't prevent scurvygrass drinks and sandwiches becoming a popular fad in the UK until the middle of the nineteenth century, when citrus fruits became more readily available.

The continuation of this Naval Histoty will be: "Pirate Breed"

Scurvy Pirate Breed

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