2009-09-05 23:05:57
In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan managed to cross the strait that bears his name and enter a calm ocean that has been known as the Pacific Ocean ever since. After having overcome innumerable dangers, the arrival in the calm waters of that enormous body of water seemed to him a blessing, but that calm became the most terrible enemy that he had to defeat during the journey that went around the world for the first time. . For three months, the expedition ships could not see dry land, fresh food ran out, and scurvy began to ravage the sailors. By the time they sighted the Moluccas, 80 percent of the crew had died.
In 1540, the Englishman George Anson entered the Pacific with a fleet of six ships and 2,000 men. His goal was to attack the Spanish ships he found along the way, but his real enemy was scurvy. Only one ship returned and 1,300 sailors lost their lives. Richard Walter, chaplain and chronicler of the expedition, described the disease thus: “…the skin becomes inky black and full of ulcers, the sick breathe heavily, the teeth fall out and, most disgusting of all, a great amount of soft tissue comes out of their mouths and rots giving off a nauseating odor…”
The great voyages of that time forced sailors to feed almost exclusively on salty meat and biscuits, fresh food was scarce and that lack was a deadlier enemy than the fiercest of battles. Things began to change in 1753, when the physician James Lind published, in his “treatise on scurvy“, experimental evidence that lemon juice and fresh vegetables have a rapid beneficial effect on patients.
They say that Captain Cook was the first to prevent scurvy from decimating his crew, thanks to a series of measures aimed at improving hygiene and food conditions. Although not all the merits that are attributed to him seem true (see a study here), the reality is that he managed to ensure that no sailor died of scurvy during his three exploration voyages.
Scurvy was infamous during long voyages, but there were other diseases like beriberi, pellagra, or rickets that seemed to have equally strange causes. Doctors blamed many things: salt in the diet, lack of oxygen in the body, fat, putrid air, microorganisms, etc. The problem began to be solved at the end of the 19th century thanks to a Dutch doctor with enormous mustaches and greater tenacity, named Christiaan Eijkman. During his study of beriberi he had to face a singular enigma: some chickens, which also suffered from the disease, had miraculously healed… Listen to the life story of Christiaan Eijkman.
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