more or lefs ip the, ftyne way become ufefuL That oats-will,
;I am.farisfied from vyhat I have been told by one o f the intelligent
friends of Captajn Cook. This.gentleman being, on a
crtji'afi in a, large-fhip in the begipningpf-the late-war, and
thefcijfyy,breaking;out among his crew,, he bethought him-
felf of ;a,kind o f fqqd he-had feen- ufed.in fome parts of the
country, as the mod proper on that ocealion. Some oat-meal
is a wooden, veflel, hot water, is-poured upon it, and
'the infufion continues until the liquor begins*© tafte fourilh,
tliat is, till a.fertnentation comes.on, which in a place moderately,
warm may be in the.fpace.pf two days. The, water
is then poured off from, the grounds -and boiled down to the
confidence, of a .jelly .f, This.,. he, ordered to be made and
dealt out in mefles, being full fweetened with fugar, and
fcafoned with fome prize Trench wine, which though turned
four, yet improved the tafte,. apd made this.,aliment not lefs
palatable than medicinal. '
He allured me, that-upqmthis diet chiefly,- and by abfiain-
ing from falted meats, his-fcorbutic lick had quite recovered
on board; and not in that voyage.only, but, by the fame
means,,in his/ubfeqqent cruizes during the war, without his
being obliged to fend one of them pn.fhore beeaufe they
•could not get well at fea. Yet oat-meal unfermented, like
baricy unmalted, hath no fcniible. ctlccl in curing the feurvy:
as if the fixed air, which is incorporated with thefe grains,
could mix with the chyle which c they produce, enter the
la&eals with it, and make part of the no.urilhment of the
body, without manifefting, any elaftic-or antifeptic quality,
{«ftWP notjopfened by.a previous, fermentation.
* The.Eflex,*'^ fe, vqnty-gun fhip.
t This rural food, in the North, is called /coins. ■
Before
Before the power of the fixed air in fubduing putrefaction
was known, the efficacy of fruits, greens, and fermented
liquors, was commonly aferibed to the acid in their compo-
fition; and we have ftill reafon to believe that the acid concurs
in operating that effect. If it be alledged that mineral
acids, which contain little or no fixed air, have been ufed in
the feurvy with little fuccefsjJ would anfwer, that I doubt that
in thofe trials they have never been fufficiently diluted; for i
is eafy to conceive, that in-the fmall quantity of water the elixir
of vitriol, for mftance, i-s: commonly given, that auftere acid
can fcarce get beyondthe firll paffages; confidering the delicate
fenfibility-of the mouths of the laefleals, which muft force
them to contract and exclude fo pungent a liquor. It were
therefore a proper experiment tube made, in a deficiency of
malt, or when- that grain fhall happen to be fpoilt by keep-
m g f rto ufe diftilkd-water acidulated-with the fpirit offea-falt
in the proportion of only ten drops to a quart; or with'the-
weak fptnt-of vitriol, thirteen drops to the fame meafure*- '
and to give tp- thofe that are threatened with the feurvy
at leafl three quarts of this liquor daily, to be confumed as
tliey 111 all think proper.
But if thz-fixed-air and acids are fiich prefervadves again«’-
thefeurvy, why fliouJd Captain Cook make fo little account
of the rob o f lemons and of oranges (for fo they have called
the extracts ormfpiffated juiebs of'thofe'fruits) in treating'
that diftemper ? This I found; was the reafon. Thefe pre!
parations being onlyTent otft upon' trial, the furgeon of the-
, J the malrhe,a “ »t-f-fficleotly gooa Tor-the two’ firit Vearf'- bur
M P f « l i f e doubted whether*Mr. Patten however' obferved-' rhaf -. - ■ retaine.d :a nJ y oT It, vvi rr>-u„ees. .
• In thefe proportions -I found the-ivater tafte juft-acidutmis and pkafaiH,
fliip