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SCÜEVY.

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any length of time, may be used. We have reason to believeif ships were well ventilated, had good store of fruits, greens,cider, <fcc, laid in, and if proper regard were paid to cleanli-ness and warmth, that sailors would be the most healthy peo-ple in the world, and would seldom suffer either from thescurvy or putrid fevers, which are so fatal to that useful set ofmen ; but it is too much the temper of such people to despiseall precaution ; they will not think of any calamity till it over-takes them, when it is too late to ward off the blow.

It must indeed be owned that many of them have it not intheir power to make the provision we are speaking of; but inthis case it is the duty of their employers to make it for them,and no man ought to engage in a long voyage without havingthese articles secured.

I have often seen very extraordinary effects in the scurvyfrom a milk diet. This preparation of nature is a mixture ofanimal and vegetable properties, which of all others is themost fit for restoring a decayed constitution, and removingthat particular acrimony of the humors which seems to consti-tute the very essence of the scurvy and many other diseases.But people despise this wholesome and nourishing food, be-cause it is cheap, and devour with greediness flesh and fer-mented liquors, while milk is only deemed fit for their hogs.

The most proper drink in the scurvy is whey or buttermilk.When these cannot be had, sound cider or perry may be used.Wort has likewise been found to be a proper drink in thescurvy, and may be used at sea, as malt will keep during thelongest voyage. A decoction of the tops of the spruce-fir islikewise proper. It may be drank in the quantity of an Eng-lish pint twice a day. Tar-water may be used for the samepurpose, or decoctions of any of the mild mucilaginous vege-tables, as sarsaparilla, marsh-mallow roots, &c. Infusions ofthe hitter plants, as ground ivy, the lesser centaury, marshtrefoil, &c, are likewise beneficial. I have seen the peasantsin some parts of Britain express the juice of the last-mentionedplant, and drink it with good effects in those foul scorbuticeruptions with which they are often troubled in the springseason.

The Harrowgate water is certainly an excellent medicinein the scurvy. I have often seen patients, who had been re-duced to the most deplorable condition by that disease, greatlyrelieved by drinking the sulphur-water and bathing in it.The chalybeate-water may also be used with advantage, espe-25*