The Age of Scurvy

From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, one dreaded foe was responsible for more deaths at sea than piracy, shipwreck and all other illnesses combined. This scourge of the seas was Scurvy. Countless mariners perished from an agonising death which began with bleeding gums, wobbly teeth and the opening of old wounds. Surgeon James Lind, sea captain James Cook, and physician Sir Gilbert Blane determined to crack the riddle of Scurvy. Their achievements heralded a new era and solved the greatest medical mystery of the Age of Sail.