a disease caused by lack of vitamin C. It affects connective tissue: symptoms include sore gums and loose teeth, ulcers on the legs, and lethargy. It takes several months without the vitamin for the first signs to appear. The disease can be quickly cured by eating foods containing the vitamin.
Scurvy was a sailor's disease, brought on by months at sea without fresh food. In the time of the great European explorers at the end of the 15th century it was the greatest single cause of death in sailors, even in wartime. Often ships would arrive after a long voyage with only a quarter of the crew alive, and they on the brink of death. On land, much of the population of Europe was at risk from scurvy every winter, thanks to a diet largely of preserved foods and a prevailing prejudice against fruit and vegetables. The disease often appeared among people in besieged towns.
The Chinese had discovered much earlier, around the 5th century ad, that scurvy at sea could be avoided by carrying live ginger plants on board junks. But it took Europeans until the early 17th century to discover that green plants and fresh fruits cured scurvy. Nobody had any idea why, and the discovery brought little benefit to sailors. On long, stormy ocean voyages in small, cramped ships, no plant would survive. During their rare landfalls sailors would gather any edible green plants, of which several species became known as ‘scurvy grass’ (see cress; horseradish; seakale; sorrel).
One of the few preserved foods to contain any vitamin C is sauerkraut. This was often carried in barrels on Dutch ships. By the 18th century its effect against scurvy had been noticed. Captain James Cook carried sauerkraut on his voyages specifically to prevent scurvy. However, he had great difficulty making his men eat it.
In 1747 the British naval surgeon James Lind conducted experiments on antiscorbutic substances—that is, those able to prevent scurvy. It had been noticed that citrus fruits were highly effective, but the Royal Navy considered them too expensive to dispense to sailors. One theory was that the acid in these fruits was the active substance. Lind selected six groups of two sailors already suffering from scurvy, and gave each group a daily dose of one of six reputed antiscorbutics: vinegar; a small amount of dilute sulphuric acid; a quart of cider; a pint of sea water; a medicine made from nutmeg, garlic, and mustard; and two oranges and a lemon. The sailors drinking cider showed a slight improvement, but those eating the citrus fruits got better quickly. In 1753 Lind published his results in A Treatise of the Scurvy.
By the end of the 18th century the Royal Navy had reluctantly agreed to give lemon juice to sailors, and the disease vanished at once from HM ships. In the mid-19th century lime juice, which was cheaper because limes were grown in the British W. Indies, was issued instead. This contains much less vitamin C than lemon juice. The disease returned briefly until the dose was increased. British sailors became known as ‘Limeys’, a word still in use.
Vitamin C was still undiscovered, and the dangers of scurvy were still not generally recognized. Captain Scott would probably have returned safely from the South Pole in 1912 if he and his men had not been crippled by scurvy. Ironically, he died just as researchers in Europe were making real progress in the discovery of the vitamin (see vitamins).
Scurvy is still seen, very occasionally, among old people living alone who neglect their diet.
Ralph Hancock is an encyclopedist with a special interest in food history and food science.
