“Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentleman Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail,” by Stephen R. Bown, available as a WILBOR audiobook download
Sometimes I forget that something so basic to our lives as nutrition has only recently begun to be understood. This book drives that point home. With accessible language and an engaging style, Bown outlines the conditions that sailors in the 18th century encountered on long voyages, and the various explanations and “remedies” for scurvy that their contemporaries foisted on them.
Beginning in the late 17th centuries, ships remained at sea for extended voyages. Subsisting almost entirely on a diet of salted meats and maggoty biscuits, sailors were subject to a variety of ailments related to a vitamin-deficient diet, including “the scurvy.” Though Bown points out that the remedy for scurvy was, in fact, known in various sectors as early as the 16th century, this knowledge was lost through misunderstanding, ignorance, and arrogance. The road to rediscovery of citrus fruits as an anti-scorbutic was a long one.
I found this book fascinating. Bown has written a wonderful history, drawing from various primary sources, and incorporating explanations of various aspects of 18th century life. My only complaint with the audiobook was the somewhat mystifying British accent that the narrator affected when reading the primary accounts; it just didn’t sound British enough to me.
“Scurvy” will appeal to those interested in history or naval history. Those who enjoy novels about the age of sail may also enjoy this book for background information.
Major Ernest Pettigrew is retired and lives a quiet life in a small village in the English countryside. He values all things British - tea time, great literature, and, above all, proper decorum. His son, Roger, flies into town from London every once in a while – just long enough to upset the quiet life-style the Major has come to enjoy but not long enough to form a bond with his father.