I do not know the composition of the pemmican, but this ration should yield nearly 5,000 calories. I should consider it to be devoid of anti-scorbutic and anti-neuritic vitamin, and, indeed, the whole medical history of that return journey shows that these men were fighting an unknown enemy greater than all the forces of the Antarctic. In a footnote Mr. Cherry Garrard mentions the possibility of vitamin deficiency, and it is noteworthy that Dr. Atkinson added fresh onions (brought by the ship) to the next year’s ration. I think there can be no doubt that there was vitamin deficiency, and it all goes to emphasize my point of the absolute necessity for careful medical organization to prevent these preventable conditions, for it is my firm belief that the cause of Scott’s death lay not in the Antarctic, but in his preparations in England prior to setting out. The knowledge of the subject necessary to enable him to prepare a sledging ration containing active vitamin was not then available. As there are two definite causes of fully developed scurvy, viz. the lack of “vitamin” and the addition of a poison, so the symptoms and signs divide themselves into two stages: (1) A stage of general lassitude with loss of vigour and a diminished resistance to outside influences. (2) A stage of toxæmia which once started progresses rapidly and produces the symptoms and signs usually associated with scurvy. One must be constantly on the watch for the first stage, for unless carefully looked for it will probably not be recognized, as the man affected can give little clue to what is wrong with him. I saw many hundreds of such cases during the war in North Russia when scurvy was common, none of them showing any local signs at all. When the better-known signs appear, such as spongy gums, blotches in the skin and lumps in the legs, the disease is in an advanced stage. My own arrangements for prevention were published in full prior to our start in the _Lancet_, August 13th, 1921. I believe this is the only Antarctic expedition that on setting out has not taken chances with scurvy, though the absence of any signs of the disease from any of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s own parties is remarkable. The reason is that the necessary knowledge had not till that time been available.