Scurvy: A tale of the sailors' curse and a cure that got lost

With such confusion, the cause of scurvy was vigorously debated and attributed to everything from tainted fruit to lack of oxygen. More broadly, says Lamb, opinion “divided over a diet that was either deficient or defective: either there was something lacking in what was eaten, or something present in it that was inimical to health”. It took the isolation of vitamin C in the 1930s to fully establish malnutrition as the problem.

“Scurvy had countless guises, inducing black gums, creaky bones and derangement“

Even more striking than the time it took to nail the cause is the utter directionlessness that preceded it. Lamb is careful to show that the conquest of scurvy does not conform to the standard story of scientific progress. The benefits of citrus for preventing and curing scurvy were discovered and discovered again, only to be lost in the interim.

There are myriad reasons for this elusiveness. Beyond the sheer capriciousness of scurvy, there’s the inconsistency of citrus as a source of vitamin C. For example, the popularity of citrus for treating scurvy in the mid-19th century led to the use of West Indian limes, which were far cheaper than Mediterranean lemons but also happened to contain far less vitamin C. Because the limes proved ineffective, all citrus was discredited and the medical establishment swayed back in the direction of attributing scurvy to contamination.

Lamb admirably follows this circuitous path, scrupulously avoiding oversimplification. While he can get lost in the details, and his book would be better served by more rigorous organisation of his research, Scurvy serves as a worthy antidote to the sensationalism common in popular science writing.

Indeed, it is the opposite of the boilerplate “vitamin that changed the world” narrative. Instead, medical science is shown in the context of contemporary prejudices and politics. Deeply informed by the history and literature of seafaring, Lamb’s book provides valuable insights into the workings of science that can even guide our expectations about research today.

This article appeared in print under the headline “The sailors’ curse”