![]() ![]() Until an official daily issue of lemon juice was introduced into the Royal Navy in 1795, scurvy continued to be a debilitating disease which destroyed men and disabled ships and whole fleets. Standard medical remedies focussed on "gingering up" the system by imbibing a variety of (ineffective) fizzy or fermenting drinks. are good husbandmen may from the saving of their salt provisions and bread, purchase sugar and limes to make it more palatable to them." Lime juice was not needed to combat scurvy, which was a disease of long ocean voyages – not of squadrons operating among islands where there was an abundance of fruits and fresh foodstuffs – and was thought by the medical establishment at the time to be due to poor digestion and internal putrefaction. This is not the case and is based on a misreading of Vernon's order in which, having instructed his captains to dilute the sailors' daily allowance of rum with water, he says that those members of the crew "which. Some writers have said that Vernon also added citrus juice to prevent spoilage and that it was found to prevent scurvy. In 1740, British Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon ordered that the daily rum issue of one-half imperial pint (284 ml) of rum be mixed with one imperial quart (1,100 ml) of water, a water-to-rum ratio of 4:1, with half issued before noon and the remainder after the end of the working day this procedure became part of the official regulations of the Royal Navy in 1756 and continued until 1970. To minimise the subsequent illness and disciplinary problems, the rum was mixed with water, which both diluted its effects and accelerated its spoilage, preventing hoarding of the allowance. Given to the sailor straight, this caused additional problems, as some sailors saved the rum rations for several days to drink all at once. Popularization of rum and invention of grog įollowing England's conquest of Jamaica in 1655, one-half of an imperial pint (2 gills 284 millilitres) of rum gradually replaced beer and brandy as the drink of choice. As longer voyages became more common, the storage of the sailors' substantial daily ration of water plus beer or wine became a problem. Stagnant water was sweetened with beer or wine to make it palatable, which involved more casks and was subject to spoilage. Since desalinating sea water was not practical, fresh water was taken aboard in casks, but quickly developed algae and became slimy. See also: History of alcoholic drinks § Early modern periodĭuring the early modern period (1500–1800), sailors required significant quantities of fresh water on extended voyages. ![]()
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