January 1, 1820.--I received this morning the first unpleasant
report of the scurvy having made its appearance among us: Mr.
Scallon, the gunner of the Hecla, had for some days past been
complaining of pains in his legs, which Mr. Edwards at first took
to be rheumatic, but which, together with the appearance of his
gums, now left no doubt of the symptoms being scorbutic. It is so
uncommon a thing for this disease to make its first appearance
among the officers, that Mr. Edwards was naturally curious to
inquire into the cause of it; and at length discovered that Mr.
Scallon's bedding was in so damp a state, in consequence of the
deposite of moisture in his bed-place, which I have before
mentioned, as to leave no doubt that to this circumstance, as the
immediate exciting cause, his illness might justly be attributed.
The difficulty of preventing this deposite of moisture, and the
consequent accumulation of ice, was much greater in the officers'
bed-places than in those of the men, in consequence of the former
being necessarily placed in close contact with the ship's sides,
and forming an immediate communication, as it were, with the
external atmosphere; whereas in the latter there was a vacant
interval of eighteen inches in width interposed between them. To
prevent as much as possible, therefore, the injurious effects of
this evil upon the health of the officers, I appointed certain
days for the airing of their bedding by the fires, as well as for
that of the ships' companies. Every attention was paid to Mr.
Scallon's case by the medical gentlemen, and all our anti-scorbutics
were put in requisition for his recovery: these consisted
principally of preserved vegetable soups, lemon-juice, and sugar,
pickles, preserved currants and gooseberries, and spruce beer. I
began also, about this time, to raise a small quantity of mustard
and cress in my cabin, in small shallow boxes filled with mould,