of the fea acquitted of all malignity, and, in fine, that a voyage round the world may be undertaken with lefs danger to health than a common tour in Europe? But the better to see the contraft between the old and the present times, allow me to recall to your memory what you have read of the firft voyage for the eftablishment of the Eat-India company. The equipment confifting of four fhips, with four hundred and eighty men, three of those vessels were fo weakened by the fcurvy by the time they had got only three degrees beyond the line, that the merchants who had embarked on this adventure, were obliged to do duty as common failors; and there died in all, at fea, and on fhore at Soldania (a place of refreshment on this fide of the Cape of Good Hope), one hundred and five men, which was near a fourth part of their complement. And hath not Sir Richard Hawkins, an intelligent as well as brave officer, who lived in that age, recorded, that "in twenty years, during which he had ufed the fea, be could give an account of ten thoufand mariners who had been confumed by the fcurvy alone?" Yet fo far was this author from miftaking the difeafe, that I have per ufed few who have fo well defcribed it. If then in thofe early times, the infancy I may call them of the commerce and naval power of Englard, fo many were carried off by that bane of feafaring people, what must have been the deftruction afterwards, upon the great augmentation of the fleet, and the opening of fo many new ports to the trade of G. Britain, whilft io little advancement was made in the nautical part of medicine? But paffing from thefe old dates to one within the remembrance of many here prefent, when it might have been expected that whatever tended to aggrandize the naval power of Britain, and to extend her commerce, would have received the highest improvement; yet we fhall find, that even at this late period few measures have been taken to preferve the health of feamen, more than had been known to our uninstructed ancetors. Of this affertion the victorious, but mournful, expediton of Com. Anfon affords too convincing a proof. It is well known, that foon after paffing the ftreights of Le Maire, the fcurvy began to appear in his fquadron [x. 476, &c.]; that by the time the Centurion had auvanced but a little way into the South fea, forty-feven had died of it in this fhip; and that there were few on board who had not, in fome degree, been affected with the distemper, though they bad not been then eight months from England: That in the ninth month, when standing for the island of Juan Fernandez, fhe loft double that number; and that the mortality went on at fo great a rate, (Iftill speak of the Commodore's fhip), that, before the arrived there, he had buried two hundred ; and at last could muster no more than fix of the common men in a watch capable of doing duty. This was the condition of one of the three ships which reached that ifland; the other two fuffered in proportion. Nor did the tragedy end here. For after a few months refpite, the fame fatal fickness broke out afresh, and made fuch havock, that before the Centurion (which now contained the whole furviving crews of the three flips) had got to the island of Tinian, there died fometimes eight or ten in a day [xi. 225.]; infomuch that when they had been two years on the voyage, they had loft a larger proportion than that of four in five of their original number; and, by the account of the hiftorian, all of them, after their entering the South fea, of the four vy. I fay, by the account of the elegant writer of the voyage; for as he neither was in the medical line himself, nor hath, authenticated this part of his narrative by appealing to the furgcons of the hip, or their journals, I fhould doubt that this was not fictly the cale; but rather, that in producing this great mortality, that peftilential kind of diftemper was combined with the fcurvy, which, from the places where it most frequently occurs, hath been diftinguifhcd by the name of the jail or hofpital fe var *. But whether the fcurvy alone, or this fever combined with it, were the caufe, it is not at prefent material to inquire; fince both, ariling from foul air, and other fources of putrefaction, may now in a great measure be obviated by the various means fallen upon fince Lord Anfon's expedition. For, in juflice to • Dr Mead, who had feen the original obfervations of two of Com. Anton's furgeons, fays, that the fcurvy at that time was ac companied with putrid fevers, &c. See his treatise on the Scurvy, p. 98. & feqq. that that prudent as well as brave commander, it must be observed, that the arrangements preparatory to his voyage were not made by himself; that his fhip was fo deeply laden as not to admit of opening the gun-ports, except in the calmeft weather, for the benefit of air; and that nothing appears to have been neglected by him, for preferving the health of his men, that was then known and practised in the navy. I fhould now proceed to enumerate the chief improvements made fince that period, and which have enabled our hips to make fo many fuccessful circumnavigations as in a manner to efface the impreflion of former difafters; but as I have mentioned the fickness mot deAtructive to mariners, and against the ravages of which thofe prefervatives have been mainly contrived, it may be proper briefly to explain its nature; and the rather, as, unless among mariners, it is little understood. Firft, then, I would obferve, that the fcurvy is not the ailment which goes by that name on fhore. The distemper commonly, but erroneously, in this place, called the fcurvy, belongs to a clafs of difeafes totally different from what we are now treating of; and fo far is the commonly-received opinion, that there are few conftitutions altogether free from a fcorbutic taint, from being true, that unless among failors, and fome others circumftanced like them, more particularly with refpect to thofe who ufe a falt and putrid diet, or live in foul air and uncleanliness, I have reafon to believe there are few diforders lefs frequent. This opinion I fubmitted to the judgement of the fociety feveral years ago, and I have had no reason fince to alter it. I then faid, (contrary to what was generally believed), and seemingly on the beft authority, that the fea-air was never the caufe of the fcurvy, fince on board a ship, on the longest voyages, cleanlinefs, ventilation, and fresh provifions, would preferve from it; and that, upon a feacoaft free from marfhes, the inhabitants were not liable to that indifpofition, though frequently breathing the air from the fea*. I concluded with joining in fentiments with those who afcribed the fcurvy to a feptic refolution, or beginning corruption, of the whole habit, fi • Diseases of the Army, part 1. ch. 1. Ap. pend. pap. 7. milar to what every animal fubftance is more or lefs, difpofed to when deprived of life. This theory feemed to be fufficiently verified by the examination of the fymptoms in the fcorbutic fick, and of the appearances in their bodies after death †. On that occafion I remarked, that falted meats after fome time become. in effect putrid, though they may continue long palatable by means of the falt; and that common falt, fuppofed to be one of the ftrongest prefervatives from corruption, is at best but an indifferent one, even in a large quantity; and in a fmall one, fuch as we ufe at table with freth meats, or swallow in meats that have been falted, fo far from impeding putrefaction, it rather promotes that procefs in the body. This pofition concerning the putrefying quality of fea-falt, in certain proportions, hath been fince confirmed by the experiments of the late Mr Canton, F. R.S. in his paper on the cause of the luminous appearance of fea-water . It hath been faid, that the fcurvy is much owing to the coldness of the air, which checks perfpiration; and it is therefore the endemic diftemper of the northern nations, and particularly of those around the Baltic . The fact is partly. true, but I doubt not fo the caufe. In thofe regions, by the long and severe winters, the cattle, deftitute of pafture, can barely live, and are therefore unfit for ufe; fo that the people, for their provifion during that feafon, are obliged to flaughter them by the end of autumn, and to falt them for half the year. This putrid diet, then, on which they muft fubfift fo long, and to which the inhabitants of the fouth are not reduced, is the chief caufe of the difeafe. And if we reflect, that the lower people of the north have few or no greens nor fruit in the winter, little fermented liquors, and of ten live in damp, foul, and ill-aired houfes, it is eafy to conceive how they should become liable to the fame indifpofition with feamen; whilft others of as high a latitude, but who live in a different manner, keep free from it. Thus we are in formed by Linnæus, that the Laplanders, one of the moft hyperborean nations, now nothing of the fcurvy: for which no other reafon can be affigned, than their never eating falted meats, nor indeed falt with any thing, but their ufing all the winter the fresh flesh of their rein-deer. This exemption of the Laplanders from the general diftemper of the north is the more obfervable, as they feldom tafte vegetables, bread never, as we farther learn from that celebrated author. Yet in the very provinces which border on Lapland, where they ufe bread, but scarcely any other vegetable, and eat falted meats, they are as much troubled with the fcurvy as in any other country t. But let us incidentally remark, that the late improvements in agriculture, gardening, and the other arts of life, by extending their influence to the remoteft parts of Europe, and to the lowest people, begin fenfibly to leffen the frequency of that complaint, even in those climates that have been once the molt afflicted with it. It hath also been afferted, that men liying on fhore will be affected with the fcurvy, though they have never been accuftomed to a falt diet. But of this I have never known an inftance, except in those who breathed in an air that is marfhy, or otherwise putrid, and who wanted exercife, fruits, and green vegetables. Under fuch circumftances it must be granted, that the humours will corrupt in the fame manner, though not in the fame degree, with thofe of mariners. Thus, in the late war, when Sifinghurst Castle, in Kent, was filled with French prifoners, the fcurvy broke out among them, though they had never been ferved with falted victuals in England, but had daily had an allowance of fresh meat, and of bread in proportion, though without greens, or any other vegetable. The furgeon who attended them, and from whom I received this information, having formerly been employed in the navy, was the better able to judge of the diforder, and to cure it. Befides the deficiency of greens, he obferved, that the wards were foul and crouded, the house damp (from a • Linnæi Flora Lapponica, p. 8. 9. + Linnæus in feveral parts of his work confirms what is here faid of falted meats, as one of the chief caufes of the fcurvy. See A. qnitat. Acad. vol. 5. p. 6. & feqq. p. 42. moat that furrounded it), and that the bounds alloted for taking the air were fo fmall, and in wet weather fo floughy, that the men seldom went out. He added, that a representation having been made, he had been empowered to furnith the prifoners with roots and greens for boiling in their foup, and to quarter the fick in a neighbouring village in a dry fituation, with liberty to go out for air and exercife; and that by these means they had all quickly recovered. It is probable, that the fcurvy fooner appeared among these strangers, from their ha ving all been taken at fea, and confequently being the more difpofed to the diftemper. My informer farther acquainted me, that in the lower and wetter parts of that county, where fome of his practice lay, he had now and then met with flighter cafes of the fcurvy among the common people; fuch, he said, as lived the whole winter on falted bacon, without fermented liquors, greens, or any fruit, a few apples excepted: but he remarked, that in the winters following a plentiful growth of that fruit, thofe peasants were visibly lefs liable to that ailment. I have dwelt the longer on this part of my subject, as I look upon the know, ledge of the nature and caufe of the fourvy to be an essential step towards improving the means of prevention and cure. And I am perfuaded, after long reflection, and the opportunities I have had of converfing with thofe who, to much fagacity, had joined no small experience in nautical practice, that upon an examination of the several articles, which have either been of old approven, or have of late been introduced into the navy, it will appear, that though thefe means may vary in form, and in their mode of operating; yet they all fome way contribute towards preventing putrefaction, whether of the air in the clofer parts of a fhip, of the meats, of the water, of the cloaths and bedding, or of the body itself. And if in this inquiry, (which may be made by the way, whilst we take a review of the principal articles of provision, and other means used by Capt. Cook to guard against sickness); I say, if in this inquiry it fhall appear, that the notion of a feptic caufe is not without foundation, it will be no small encou ragement to proceed on that principle, in order to improve this important branch of medicine. Capt. quors, and begins to oppofe putrefaction as foon as the working or inteftine motion commences. Capt. Cook begins his lift of ftores with malt: "Of this (he, fays) was made sweet wort, and given, not only to those men who had manifest symptoms In wine it abounds, and perhaps no of the fcurvy, but to fuch alfo as were vegetable fubftance is more replete with judged to be the moft liable to it." Dr it than the fruit of the vine. If we join Macbride, who first fuggefted this pre- the grateful taste of wine, we must rank paration, was led (as he fays) to the it firft in the lift of antifcorbutic liquors. difcovery by fome experiments that had Cyder is likewife good, with other vinous been laid before this fociety; by which it productions from fruit, as alfo the va appeared, that the air produced by ali- rious kinds of beer. It hath been a conmentary fermentation was endowed with ftant observation, that in long cruises, or a power of correcting putrefaction. The diftant voyages, the scurvy is never feen fact he confirmed by numerous trials; whilst the small beer holds out at a full and finding this fluid to be fixed air, he allowance; but that when it is all exjustly concluded, that whatever fubftance pended, the diforder foon appears. It proper for food abounded with it, and were therefore to be wished, that this which could be conveniently carried to moft wholesome beverage could be refea, wonid make one of the beft provi- newed at fea; but our ships afford not fions against the scurvy; which he then fufficient convenience. The Ruffians, confidered as a putrid disease, and as however, make a fhift to prepare at sea, fuch to be prevented or cured by that as well as at land, a liquor of a middle powerful kind of antiseptic *. Beer, for quality between wort and small beer, in inftance, hath always been esteemed one the following manner. They take the best antifcorbutics; but as that de- ground malt and rye-meal in a certain ived all its fixed air from the malt of proportion, which they knead into small which it is made, he inferred, that malt loaves, and bake in the oven. These itself was preferable in long voyages, as they occafionally infuse in a proper quanit took up lefs room than the brewed li- tity of warm water, which begins fo foon quor, and would keep longer found. to ferment, that in the space of twentyExperience hath fince verified this inge-four hours their brewage is completed, ious theory, and the malt hath now gained fo much credit in the navy, that there only wanted fo long, fo healthful, and fo celebrated a voyage as this, to rank it among the most indifpenfable articles of provifion. For though Capt. Cook remarks, that "a proper attention to other things must be joined; and that he is not altogether of opinion, that the wort will be able to cure the fcurvy in an advanced ftate at fea; yet he is perfuaded, that it is fufficient to prevent that distemper from making any great progrefs, for a confiderable time;" and therefore he doth not hesitate to pronounce it one of the best antifcorbutic medicines yet found out t. in the production of a small, brifk, and acidulous liquor, which they call quas, palatable to themselves, and not difagreeable to the tafte of ftrangers. The late Dr Mounfey, member of this fociety, who had lived long in Ruffa, and had been Archiater under two fucceffive fovereigns, acquainted me, that the quas was the common and wholesome drink both of the fleets and armies of that empire, and that it was particularly good against the fcurvy. He added, that happening to be at Moscow when he perufed the Obfervations on the Fail-Fever, published here, he had been induced to compare what he read in that treatife with what he should fee in the feveral prifons of that large city; but to his fur This falutary gas (or fixed air) is contained more or lefs in all fermentable li• Macbride's Experimental Essays, paffim. medy hitherto found out for the cure of the very impartial perfon, that it is the best reHaving been favoured with a fight of fea-fcurvy: and I am well convinced, from the medical journal of Mr Patten, furgeon what I have feen the wort perform, and to the Refolution, I read the following paf- from its mode of operation, that, if aided by fage in it, not a little ftrengthening the a- portable-foup, four-krout, fugar, fago, and curbove teftimony. "I have found the wort rants, the fcurvy, that maritime peftilence, of the utmoft fervice in all fcorbutic cafes du- will feldom or never make its alarming apring the voyage. As many took it by way pearance among a fhip's crew, on the longof prevention, few cafes occurred where it eft voyages; proper care with regard to cleanhad a fair trial; but these, however, I flat-linefs and provitions being obferved." myfelf, will be fufficient to convince e prife, prife, after vifiting them all, and finding He affured me, that upon this diet chiefly, and by abftaining from falted meats, his fcorbutic fick quite recovered on board; and not in that voyage only, but by the fame means in his fubfequent cruifes, during the war, without his being once obliged to fend one of them on shore because they could not get well at fea. Yet oat-meal unfermented,, like barley unmalted, hath no fentible effect in curing the fcurvy; as if the fixed air which is incorporated with thefe grains, could mix with the chyle which they produce, enter the lacteals, and make part of the nourishment of the body, without manifefting any elastic or antifeptic quality, when not loofened by a previous fermentation. Before the power of the fixed air in fubduing putrefaction was known, the efficacy of fruits, greens, and fermented liquors, was commonly afcribed to the acid in their compofition; and we have ftill reafon to believe that the acid concurs in operating the effect. If it be alledged, that mineral acids, which contain little or no fixed air, have been tried in the fcurvy with little fuccefs; I would answer, that I doubt that in those trials they have never been fufficiently diluted; for it is easy to conceive, that in the small quantity of water the elixir of vitriol, for inftance, is given, that auftere acid can fearce get beyond the first paffages, confidering the delicate fenfibility of the mouths of the lacteals, which must force them to fhut and exclude fo pungent a liquor. It were therefore a proper experiment to be made in a deficiency of malt, or when that grain should happen to be spoilt by keeping *, to use water acidulated with the fpirit of fea-falt, in the proportion of only ten drops to a quart; or with the weak spirit of vitriol, thirteen drops to the fame meafure † ; and to give to those who are threatened with the disease three quarts of this liquor in the day, to be confumed as they . fhall think proper. Thus far my informer; from whofe account it would appear, that the ryemeal affifted both in quickening the fermentation, and adding more fixed air; fince the malt alone could not fo readily produce fo acidulous and brifk a liquor.. And there is little doubt but that, whenever the other grains can be brought to a proper degree of fermentation, they will more or lefs in the fame way become ufeful. That oats will, I am fatisfied, from what I have been told by one of the intelligent friends of Capt. Cook. This gentleman being on a cruife in a large ship *, in the beginning of the late war, and the scurvy breaking out among his crew, he bethought himself of a kind of 'food he had feen used in fome parts of the country, as the moft proper on this occafion. Some oat-meal is put into a wooden veffel, hot water is poured upon it, and the infufion continues until the liquor begins to taste sourish, that is, till a fermentation comes on, which in a place moderately warm may be in the fpace of two days. The water is then. poured off from the grounds, and boiled down to the confilience of a jelly This he ordered to be made, and dealt out in meffes, being firft fweetened with fugar, and feafoned with fome prizewine he had taken, which, though turned four, yet improved the tafte, and made this aliment no less palatable than medicinal. The Effex, a feventy-gun fhip. †This rural food, in the North, is called fwins. To be continued.] Capt. Cook told me, that the malt held out furciently good for the two first years; but that in the third, having loft much of its tafie, he doubted whether it retained any of its virtues. Mr Patten however obferved, that though the malt at that time was fenti. bly decayed, yet nevertheless he had fill found it useful, when he employed a larger proportion of it to make the infufion + In thefe proportions I found the water juft acidulous and pleafant. Anfan |