ed, but seemingly on the best grounds, that the sea-air
was never the cause of the scurvy, since on board a ship, on the longest
voyages, cleanliness, ventilation, and fresh provisions, would preserve
from it; and that upon a sea-coast, free from marshes, the inhabitants
were not liable to that indisposition, though frequently breathing the
air from the sea*. I concluded with joining in sentiments with those who
ascribed the scurvy to a septic resolution, that is a beginning
corruption of the whole habit, similar to that of every animal substance
when deprived of life**. This account seemed to be sufficiently verified
by the examination of the symptoms in the scorbutic sick, and of the
appearances in their bodies after death***. On that occasion I remarked,
that salted meats after some time become in effect putrid, though they
may continue long palatable by means of the salt; and that common salt,
supposed to be one of the strongest preservatives from corruption, is at
best but an indifferent one, even in a large quantity; and in a small
one, such as we use at table with fresh meats, or swallow in meats that
have been salted, so far from impeding putrefaction, it rather promotes
that process in the body.

[* Diseases of the Army, part I. ch. 2. Append. Pap. 7.]

[** Woodall's Surgeon's Mate, p. 163. Poupart. Mem. de l'Acad. R. des Sc.
A. 1'99. Petit. Mal. des Os, tom. II.p. 446. Mead on the Scurvy, p. 104.]

This position concerning the putrefying quality of sea-salt, in certain
proportions, hath been since confirmed by the experiments of the late Mr.
Canton, Fellow of this Society, in his Paper on the Cause of the luminous
appearance of sea-water*.

[* Phil. Transact. vol. lix. p. 446.]

It hath been alleged, that the scurvy is much owing to the coldness of
the air, which checks perspiration, and on that account is the endemic
distemper of the northern nations, particularly of those around the
Baltic*. The fact is partly true, but I doubt not so the cause. In those
regions, by the long and severe winters, the cattle destitute of pasture
can barely live, and are therefore unfit for use; so that the people, for
their provision during that season, are obliged to slaughter them by the
end of autumn, and to salt them for above half the year. This putrid diet
then, on which they must subsist so long, and to which the inhabitants of
the south are not reduced, seems to be the chief cause of the disease.
And if we reflect t