Really good article about scurvy (for billi)
A few weeks ago my sister sent me this email:
subject: really good article about scurvy
body of email:
_______________________________
Yes. Yes, indeed! Thank you very much!
The symptoms of scurvy do not necessarily occur in a regular order, but generally the first sign is an inflamed, swollen condition of the gums. The whitish pink tinge next the teeth is replaced by an angry red; as the disease gains ground the gums become more spongy and turn to a purplish colour, the teeth become loose and the gums sore. Spots appear on the legs, and pain is felt in old wounds and bruises; later, from a slight oedema, the legs, and then the arms, swell to a great size and become blackened behind the joints. After this the patient is soon incapacitated, and the last horrible stages of the disease set in, from which death is a merciful release.
I very much enjoyed this article. And now I want to read the book Limeys.
It’s funny how it never occurred to me as odd that so many later travel stories had parts about expeditions were everyone got scurvy when it should have been clear how to NOT get scurvy. This article goes into such great detail. I’m so glad someone wrote it.
My main thoughts on it were:
1. Infant scurvy! ugh! how awful! and, onion juice! ew!
2. It’s a good thing the 1894 the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition had enough officers sharing the polar bear liver else they might all have just died from vit. A poisoning.
Awesome collection of links: http://pinboard.in/u:maciej/t:scurvy
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April 8, 2010 at 1:23 am
That was a pretty detailed description of death by scurvy. Neat. I’m totally getting that book. Thanks!!!
April 9, 2010 at 12:06 pm
I remember one bit in a book about the Franklin expedition where some passing Inuit wondered why the hell the Franklin dudes didn’t just chew some young tips of fir trees. So if you ever find yourself getting scurvy, eat some baby pine needles. Instant cure!