The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-06-10

CIENCE has about come to the
~ conclusion that scurvy Is
~ caused by the impoverished
" condition Of the b,ocd. and
W. that, in turn. is caused by poor
food, and especially by ,ainted
meat. II used TO be considered that
scurvy was caused by the want of fresh
vegetables or lime juice. but it is known
now that the eating Of salted or imnrop-
erly preserved meat or tainted meat in any
form can produce scurvy even when lime
juice or vegetables are being taken at the
Same time.
This determination was set forth recently
in a paper by Frederick G. Jackson. an
Arctic explorer. and DR.. Vaughan Harley
which was read before the Royal society Of
London and published in the Lancet. Be
sides the results OF experiments with Arctic
expeditions. which confirmed the view Of
these two experts. further experiments
were made in feeding monkeys with tainted
meat The monkeys promptly contracted
scurvy even those that received vegetable :
In addition to the meat.
In the early part of this century, through
the efforts largely OF Lind; me better feed
ing az sailors led to the gradual dtss'p-
pearance OF scurvy in Brtlin's naval ser
vice, and from this and other observed
facts II was conceived that the disease de-
veloped whenever individuals did not re-
ceive a sufficient quantity of fresh Vegeta-
bles or some substitute, such as lime juice,
in the diet Garrod held that the cause of
scurvy was a deficiency of potassium salts,
while others believed the essential foctor
to be the absence of organic salts which
are present in fruits and vegetables Ralfe
believed that the absence from the food OF
malates, citrates and lactates reduced the
alkalinity Of the blood and thus was the
cause of scurvy. II was proved, how
ever by analysts that the aikalnity of The
blood was not diminished, and the majority
of evidence showed no diminution In the
quantity of potash salts In the scurvv-
tainted blood, so that these explanations
had TO be abandoned. Neale. in an article
on "Scurvy in the Arctic Regions pub
lished in the Practitioner in 1896, stated that
''scurvy Is disease due to want of proper
ventilation and want OF proper blood nour-
ishment, in fact scurvy begins with
anaemia, and its great antidote is fresh
blood He consequently did not consider
that fresh vegetables were of such promi-
nent Importance in the warding of Cf
scurvy as the general teaching up 10 the
present has led us to believe. These re-
marks OF his were drawn from practical ex-
periencc in the Arctic regions.
1t Is to the sojourners in the Arctic and
Antarctic cimes that scurvy nowadays
is of such overwhelming Importance. al
though in some lands nearer home 1t Is
still rife. In the Mares polar expedition
the crews of the Alert and the Discovery
suffered greatly from this afflction, al
though lime Juice was taken daily by all
hands when on board. When on the sledg-
ing expedition, in consequence OF the ne
cessties of such n condition of travel, only
a small quantity of lime juice was car
ried, yet an outbreak of scurvy occurred
not only among the sledging parties but
among the men who remained on board
ship and continued to take the prescribed
allowance of lime juice daily. On the other
hand. Leigh Smiths party. with its medi-
cal officer. DR.. Neale. after the loss OF
their ship. the Ezra. spent nine months,
including n winter upon Franz Josef Land
In the severest and necessarily the most