"Whalers who were accustomed to winter in Hudson Bay practically always
had scurvy in the crew. It was common knowledge among the captains that
fresh meat was curative of scurvy, and it was their practice to obtain
meat from the Eskimos whenever possible for that purpose. The last
English expeditions to the South Polar regions were afflicted with
scurvy which was entirely and quickly eradicated by the use of fresh
seal meat in the place of salt meats and canned foods. They do not state
that this meat was eaten raw or even rare cooked. On the Danish coast of
Greenland, during seasons poor in game, scurvy is quite common, but the
natives there live largely on breadstuffs (very coarse rye bread).
Personally, during my four years in the Arctic, I took no fresh
vegetables whatever, or other commonly-called antiscorbutics, relying
solely on rare or raw meat. I never was stronger or more healthy in my
life. I did have dried fruits and vegetables, and usually plenty of
fresh bread. Usually the Eskimos eat their raw meat in a frozen
condition, and I can attest that it is extremely palatable in that
condition."
We do not wish to discuss, in this place, the value of meat as an
antiscorbutic; in passing, however, it may be said that, as in the case
of the other antiscorbutics, its efficacy will depend largely upon the
amount consumed. The British Mesopotamia Commission Report of 1917 shows
that scurvy can develop on a ration which includes 28 ounces of meat a
week. We must remember, however, that this refers to cooked meat,
whereas in the Polar expeditions meat generally was eaten in a raw
state.
Recently an historical inquiry has appeared in an article by Chick, Hume
and Skelton as to the antiscorbutic virtue of limes and lemons. This
sketch is of exceptional interest because it treats of the oldest and
most cherished antiscorbutics, and particularly because it has unearthed
a peculiar fallacy in their connection. As they state, there would
appear to be every reason for believing "that the use of so-called lime
juice was responsible for the disappearance of scurvy from the British
navy in the first decade of the nineteenth century." It would seem,
however, that the lime juice which gained this great reputation in the
navy some 125 years ago was in reality lemon juice, and that it was not
until about 50 years ago that lime juice was really used. These authors
show--by one of those striking human experiments which, occasionally, is
available--that in a Polar exploration which was organized in 1850 lemon
juice was issued to each man, and that no case of scurvy developed,
whereas in a similar expedition which went out in 1875 lime juice was
issued and scurvy developed the following spring with great severity
among the sledge crews. This investigation, therefore, seems to prove
that lime juice, the prototype of antiscorbutics, has been accorded a
false position; that in reality the sailors of the past have been
protected by lemon juice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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