Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T20:13:26.533Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The understanding of scurvy during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2011

Henry Guly
Henry Guly*
Affiliation:
Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, PL6 8DH ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

At the start of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration there was great confusion concerning the cause of scurvy. It was known that it was related, in some way, to food but it was uncertain as to how, and there were two main theories. The first was that it was caused by a deficiency of fruit and vegetables and the other that it was caused by a toxic material in tinned foods. In addition, older theories that it was caused by dirt and damp still carried weight and Almroth Wright had proposed that scurvy was caused by too much acid in the blood. An additional confusion was that vitamin C deficiency was often combined with other vitamin deficiencies and so other diseases might be labelled as scurvy. The discovery of vitamins occurred over the same period but, as with all new scientific concepts, the knowledge that scurvy was caused by a vitamin deficiency took time to be universally accepted. It was generally accepted by about 1920, although some people did not accept it until vitamin C has been isolated in 1932.

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 26 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amundsen, R. 1913. The South Pole (translator Chater, A.G.). New York: John Murray.Google Scholar
Anon. (Anonymous). 1869. Death of Mr James Haviland. British Medical Journal 2:640.Google Scholar
Anon. (Anonymous). 1876. Scurvy and Arctic exploration. The Lancet 2:689–690.Google Scholar
Anon. (Anonymous). 1897. Dr Nansen on the prevention of scurvy. British Medical Journal 1:465–466.Google Scholar
Anon. (Anonymous). 1903. Scurvy on the Discovery. British Medical Journal 1: 807.Google Scholar
Anon. (Anonymous). 1905. Diseases due to preserved food. British Medical Journal 1:670–671.Google Scholar
Anon. (Anonymous). 1917. Wellcome's excerpta therapeutica. London: Burroughs Wellcome and Co.Google Scholar
Armitage, A.B. 1984. Two years in the Antarctic. Bungay: Bluntisham Books and the Paradigm Press.Google Scholar
Bown, S.R. 2003. Scurvy. Chichester: Summersdale Publishers Ltd.Google Scholar
Bruce, W.S. 1911. Polar exploration. London: Williams and Norgate.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpenter, K.J. 1986. The history of scurvy and vitamin C. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Charcot, J-B. 1978. The voyage of the ‘Pourquoi Pas?’ (translator Walsh, P.) London: C Hurst and Co.Google Scholar
Charcot, J-B. 1931. La maladie des conserves. La Presse Médicale 55: 1057–1058.Google Scholar
Cherry-Garrard, A. 2001. The worst journey in the world. London: Picador.Google Scholar
Chick, H., Hume, M., Skelton, R.F., and Henderson Smith, A.. 1918.The relative content of antiscorbutic principle in limes and lemons. The Lancet 2:735–738.Google Scholar
Cook, G.C. 2004. Scurvy in the British mercantile marine in the 19th century and the contribution of the Seaman's Hospital Society. Postgraduate Medical Journal 80:224–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cope, J. 1917. Medical report of the Ross Sea Base ITAE. Cambridge: Scott Polar Research Institute MS 1537/4/3.Google Scholar
Crandon, J.H., Lund, C.C., and Dill, D.B.. 1940. Experimental human scurvy. The New England Journal of Medicine 233: 353–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekelöf, E. 1904. Medical aspects of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition October 1901-January 1904. Journal of Hygiene 4:511–540.Google ScholarPubMed
Gourdon, E. 1913. Thèse pour le Doctorat en Médecine; un hivernage dans l'Antarctique. Paris: G Steinheil.Google Scholar
Guly, H.R. ‘Polar anaemia’: cardiac failure during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. Polar Record in press.Google Scholar
Hodges, R.E., Baker, E.M., Hood, J., Sauberlich, H.E., and March, S.C.. 1969. Experimental scurvy in man. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 22: 535–548.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holst, A. 1907. Experimental studies relating to ‘ship-beri-beri’ and scurvy. Journal of Hygiene 7:619–633.Google ScholarPubMed
Holst, A., and Frölich, T.. 1907. Experimental studies relating to ship-beri-beri and scurvy. Journal of Hygiene 7: 634–671.Google ScholarPubMed
Holt, L.B. 1972. Medical aspects of polar exploration: sixtieth anniversary of Scott's last expedition. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 65:47–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, F.G., and Harley, V.. 1900. An experimental inquiry into scurvy. The Lancet 1:1184–1188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koettlitz, R. 1902. The British Antarctic expedition: precautions against scurvy in the victualling of the ‘Discovery’. British Medical Journal 1:342–343.Google Scholar
Levick, G.M. 1910–1912. Notebooks. Cambridge: Scott Polar Research Institute MS 1555/1–3.Google Scholar
McCarrison, R. 1921. Studies in deficiency diseases. London: Henry Frowde and Hodder and Stoughton.Google Scholar
Macklin, A.H. 1923. Appendix V – medical. In: Wild, F.Shackleton's last voyage: the story of the’ Quest’. London: Cassells and Co. Ltd: 352–365.Google Scholar
Macklin, A.H. 1925. Lime juice and lemon juice for the prevention of scurvy British Medical Journal 1: 660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macklin, A.H. 1926. Letter to Raymond Priestley, 12 October 1926. Cambridge Scott Polar Research Institute MS 924.Google Scholar
Macklin, A.H. 1951. Letter to John Kendall, 19 February 1951. Cambridge: Scott Polar Research Institute MS 656/3/1–2.Google Scholar
Marshall, E.S. Letter to Dr John Kendall, 24 August 1950. Cambridge: Scott Polar Research Institute MS 656/1–4.Google Scholar
Medical Research Council Vitamin C Subcommittee of the Accessory Foods Committee. 1953. Vitamin C requirement of human adults. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Nansen, F. 1900. Letter to Reginald Koettlitz, 27 February 1900. London: Royal Geographical Society MS LMS K12.Google Scholar
Osler, W. 1907. The principles and practice of medicine. 6th edition. London: Appleton.Google Scholar
Priestley, R.E. 1974. Antarctic adventure: Scott's northern party. London: C. Hurst and Co.Google Scholar
Scott, F.R. 1929. The Voyage of the ‘Discovery’. London: John Murray. 400.Google Scholar
Scott, R.F. 2005. Robert Falcon Scott journals: Captain Scott's last expedition. (editor Jones, M.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shackleton, E.H. 1999. The heart of the Antarctic. London: Robinson Publishing.Google Scholar
Wilson, E.A. 1905. The medical aspect of the Discovery's voyage to the Antarctic. British Medical Journal 2: 77–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, E.A. 1972. Diary of the Terra Nova expedition to the Antarctic 1910–1912. (editor King, H.G.R.) London: Blandford Press.Google Scholar
Wright, A.E. 1894. Letter to Reginald Koettlitz, 4 July 1894. London; Royal Geographical Society MS SSC/8/2.Google Scholar
Wright, A.E. 1897. On a simple method of measuring the alkalinity of the blood. The Lancet 2:719–721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, A.E. 1900. On the pathology and therapeutics of scurvy. The Lancet 2:565–567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar