What is a Scurvy Dog?
A sailor’s life in the early centuries of ocean travel was bad enough, with long voyages at sea in a rickety, rat-infested boat, living in unsanitary and often overcrowded conditions. However, one of the largest killers of sailors was a disease called Scurvy. Unrecognized as a disease until the 20th century, the symptoms of Scurvy were often thought to be many different diseases. A serious deficiency of Vitamin C, Scurvy could cause severe sores, the loss of teeth, bleeding gums, exhaustion, and often a sailor would suddenly collapse and die. It was baffling to doctors and captains how men could suddenly show such improvement in their condition after going ashore. Some accredited it towards laziness on the part of sailors, who looked forward to shore leave. Some captains caught on to the fact that providing fruits, such as lemons and limes, could prevent Scurvy. But even into the late 18th century, many attributed the symptoms of Scurvy to “general idleness”. The term “Scurvy Dog” has
