Main description:

Born in Edinburgh, with family connections to the local medical profession, James Lind (1716-94) went on to spend nine years at sea as a surgeon for the Royal Navy. His service made him familiar with one of the most common and debilitating ailments of the eighteenth century. Scurvy posed a particular problem for Britain, an island nation seeking to assert itself overseas through its navy. The symptoms of the disease had been recognised for centuries, but the causes remained elusive. First published in 1753, Lind's treatise explores the topic thoroughly, weighing the evidence and presenting a theory of the disease's aetiology, suggesting methods of prevention and treatment, and also discussing previous work on the subject, including ancient texts. Lind provided the groundwork for later investigations, his research lending support to the later practice of including the juice of citrus fruit in a sailor's diet, even though vitamin deficiency was not yet understood.

Contents:

Preface; Part I: 1. A critical history of the different accounts of this disease; 2. Of its several divisions; 3. Of the distinction commonly made into a land and sea scurvy; 4. Of the scurvy being connate, hereditary, and infectious; Part II: 1. The true causes of the disease; 2. The diagnostics, or signs; 3. The prognostics; 4. The prophylaxis; 5. The cure of the disease, and its symptoms; 6. The theory; 7. Dissections; 8. The nature of the symptoms; Part III: 1. Passages in ancient authors; 2. Bibliotheca scorbutica; Appendix; Chronological index; Index.