Lind and scurvy: 1747 to 1795

Abstract

Lind’s Treatise of the Scurvy1 is a good illustration of the basis for mid-18th century judgement and decision-making in at least two respects: it quotes the contributions of others at length, and its therapeutic recommendations had little impact.2,3 Lind dedicated his book to Lord Anson because an account of Anson’s circumnavigation published in 1748 had prompted Lind’s interest in scurvy: at least 380 out of a crew of 510 on one of Anson’s ships had died of the disease. When Lind began to read the literature on scurvy, he realized that the only existing descriptions of the disease were by lay seamen and doctors who had never been to sea. ‘No physician conversant with this disease at sea had undertaken to throw light upon the subject,’ and Lind felt that this was one of the reasons why there was so much confusion about the diagnosis, prevention and cure of the disease. As Lind wrote bluntly: ‘Indeed, before the subject could be set in clear and proper light, it was necessary to remove a great deal of rubbish’1 (p. viii).

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