Reports on scurvy uploaded to Zenodo by Harri Hemilä

The primary goal of this project is to collect original early descriptions of the symptoms of scurvy, with an emphasis on firsthand clinical observations and historically significant accounts. Motivations for collecting early reports on scurvy: 1. Many of the reports included here are of great historical interest. For example, during some long sea voyages more than half of the crew died from scurvy, with profound consequences for the outcome and success of such expeditions.2. In his authoritative book The History of Vitamin C and Scurvy (1986), Kenneth Carpenter referred to numerous early reports. At that time, the sources were not available online. Many of the documents included in this collection provide direct access to reports cited by Carpenter.3. Several early reports were written by physicians who had personally treated large numbers of patients with scurvy. Their extensive firsthand experience allowed them to describe a wide range of symptoms of scurvy in detail. As a result, many of these early descriptions can be much more informative for understanding the clinical spectrum of scurvy than many modern reviews, which often focus primarily on biochemical mechanisms.4. Oranges, lemons, and other plants were known to prevent and cure scurvy long before the work of James Lind. This early knowledge represents an important and fascinating aspect of medical history. Moreover, recovery following the use of fruit and other plant foods strongly supports the conclusion that the observed symptoms were indeed caused by scurvy.Short texts are presented in full, while longer works are shown as extracts with sufficient surrounding context to preserve meaning. Many of the original reports are difficult to access or challenging to read due to poor scan quality, gray backgrounds, low contrast, and old typefaces. To improve readability, several texts have been transcribed and reformatted using modern fonts. When available, links to the original digitized sources are provided in the listed documents.The documents are arranged chronologically according to the year of the original report or observation, with the oldest first. In the case where a report describes events that occurred earlier than its publication date, the year of the event is used for placement. Review articles are indicated in bold. This list may be updated as additional relevant early texts are identified. The most up-to-date version of the list is through the "is continued by" link below.