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120-795: The Shumagin Islands were named after Nikita Shumagin, one of the sailors on Vitus Bering 's 1741 expedition to North America who died of scurvy and was buried on Nagai Island. 55°04′00″N 160°03′00″W  /  55.06667°N 160.05000°W  / 55.06667; -160.05000 This article about a location in the Aleutians East Borough, Alaska is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Vitus Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering ( Danish: [ˈviːtsʰus ˈjoːnæsn̩ ˈpe̝(ː)ɐ̯e̝ŋ] ; baptised 5 August 1681 – 19 December 1741), also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering ( Russian : Иван Иванович Беринг ),

240-457: A " Recp.t for the Scurvy" amongst other largely medicinal and herbal recipes. The recipe consisted of extracts from various plants mixed with a plentiful supply of orange juice, white wine or beer. In 1734, Leiden -based physician Johann Bachstrom published a book on scurvy in which he stated, "scurvy is solely owing to a total abstinence from fresh vegetable food, and greens; which is alone

360-468: A "swelling and obstruction of the spleen ." In 406 CE, the Chinese monk Faxian wrote that ginger was carried on Chinese ships to prevent scurvy. The knowledge that consuming foods containing vitamin C is a cure for scurvy has been repeatedly forgotten and rediscovered into the early-20th century. In the 13th century Crusaders developed scurvy. In the 1497 expedition of Vasco da Gama ,

480-490: A beacon had been built there on Bering's orders few months before, and now the explorer named the settlement after his vessels. Over the winter, Bering recruited for the trip ahead naturalist Georg Steller and completed the report he had promised to send. At the same time, however, the murder of several Russians under Bering's command by native tribesmen prompted him to send armed men to the north, with orders not to use force if it could be avoided. Apparently it could not, because

600-482: A broad oversight role, Bering's personal instructions from the Admiralty were surprisingly simple. Given on 16 October 1732, they amounted only to recreating his first expedition, but with the added task of heading east and finding North America (a feat which had in fact just been completed by Mikhail Gvozdev , though this was not known at the time ). The suggestion was made that Bering share more of his command with

720-404: A cape (which Chirikov named Cape Chukotsky ), the land turned westwards, and Bering asked his two lieutenants on 13 August 1728 whether or not they could reasonably claim it was turning westwards for good: that is to say, whether they had proven that Asia and America were separate land masses. The rapidly advancing ice prompted Bering to make the controversial decision not to deviate from his remit:

840-493: A consequence, the ship they constructed—the St. Gabriel ( Святой Гавриил , Sviatoi Gavriil )—was ready to be launched as soon as 9 June 1728 from its construction point upriver at Ushka . It was then fully rigged and provisioned by 9 July, and on 13 July set sail downstream, anchoring offshore that evening. On 14 July, Bering's party began their first exploration, hugging the coast in not a northerly direction (as they had expected) but

960-511: A day – and they had some 685 miles to cover. When the rivers froze, the cargo was transferred to sleds and the expedition continued, enduring blizzards and waist-high snow. Even provisions left by Bering at Yudoma Cross could not fend off starvation. On 6 January 1727 Spanberg and two other men, who had together formed an advance party carrying the most vital items for the expedition, reached Okhotsk; ten days later sixty others joined them, although many were ill. Parties sent by Bering back along

1080-584: A detachment of 209 men and much of the cargo; on 27 July apprentice shipbuilder Fyodor Kozlov led a small party to reach Okhotsk ahead of Spanberg, both to prepare food supplies and to start work repairing the Vostok and building a new ship, the Fortuna ( Russian : Фортуна , " Fortune "), needed to carry the party across the bay from Okhotsk to the Kamchatka peninsula. Bering himself left on 16 August, whilst it

1200-497: A handbook for apprentice surgeons aboard the company's ships. He repeated the experience of mariners that the cure for scurvy was fresh food or, if not available, oranges, lemons, limes, and tamarinds . He was, however, unable to explain the reason why, and his assertion had no impact on the prevailing opinion of the influential physicians of the age, that scurvy was a digestive complaint. Apart from ocean travel, even in Europe, until

1320-564: A means of preventing scurvy. A 1609 book by Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola recorded a number of different remedies for scurvy known at this time in the Moluccas, including a kind of wine mixed with cloves and ginger, and "certain herbs". The Dutch sailors in the area were said to cure the same disease by drinking lime juice. In 1614, John Woodall , Surgeon General of the East India Company , published The Surgion's Mate as

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1440-399: A mixture of balsam of Peru , garlic , myrrh , mustard seed and radish root. In A Treatise on the Scurvy (1753) Lind explained the details of his clinical trial and concluded "the results of all my experiments was, that oranges and lemons were the most effectual remedies for this distemper at sea." However, the experiment and its results occupied only a few paragraphs in a work that

1560-405: A month of little to no vitamin C in the diet before symptoms occur. In modern times, scurvy occurs most commonly in people with mental disorders , unusual eating habits, alcoholism , and older people who live alone. Other risk factors include intestinal malabsorption and dialysis . While many animals produce their own vitamin C, humans and a few others do not. Vitamin C, an antioxidant ,

1680-554: A new vessel from the remnants of the ship in order to return home. By August it was ready, successfully reaching Avacha Bay later in the month. There, the party discovered that Chirikov had led a rescue mission during 1741 that came within miles of the stranded group. Out of 77 men aboard the St. Peter , only 46 survived the hardships of the expedition, which claimed its last victim just one day before coming into home port. Its builder, Starodubtsev, returned home with government awards and later built several other seaworthy ships. Assessing

1800-424: A north-easterly one. The ship's log records a variety of landmarks spotted (including St. Lawrence Island ) many of which the expedition took the opportunity to name. Translation problems hindered the exploration attempt, however, as Bering was unable to discuss the local geography with locals he encountered. Sailing further north, Bering entered for the first time the strait that would later bear his name. Reaching

1920-494: A proper port. He did not leave for Okhotsk for another four years, by which time Bering's own expedition (in time for which Okhotsk was supposed to have been prepared) was not far off. In 1732, however, Bering was still at the planning stage in Moscow, having taken a short leave of absence for St. Petersburg. The better positioned Kirilov oversaw developments, eyeing up not only the chance of discovering North America, but of mapping

2040-616: A remedy that was already known in the Spanish navy. In February 1601, Captain James Lancaster , while commanding the first English East India Company fleet en route to Sumatra , landed on the northern coast of Madagascar specifically to obtain lemons and oranges for his crew to stop scurvy. Captain Lancaster conducted an experiment using four ships under his command. One ship's crew received routine doses of lemon juice while

2160-498: A ship also began the long journey home. As they left, a messenger arrived; the admiralty was demanding a progress update. Bering delayed, promising a partial report from Spanberg and a fuller report later. With time now of the essence, the Okhotsk ( Охотск ) left for Bolsheretsk, arriving there in mid-September. Another new ship, the St. Peter ( Святой Пётр , Sviatoi Piotr , Pyotr , or Pëtr ), captained by Bering, also left. It

2280-620: Is also found in vegetables, such as brussels sprouts , cabbage , potatoes , and spinach . Some fruits and vegetables not high in vitamin C may be pickled in lemon juice , which is high in vitamin C. Nutritional supplements which provide ascorbic acid well in excess of what is required to prevent scurvy may cause adverse health effects. Fresh meat from animals, notably internal organs, contains enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy, and even partly treat it. Scott's 1902 Antarctic expedition used fresh seal meat and increased allowance of bottled fruits, whereby complete recovery from incipient scurvy

2400-591: Is invariably fatal. Diagnosis is typically based on physical signs, X-rays , and improvement after treatment. Various childhood onset disorders can mimic the clinical and X-ray picture of scurvy such as: Scurvy can be prevented by a diet that includes uncooked vitamin C-rich foods such as amla , bell peppers (sweet peppers), blackcurrants , broccoli , chili peppers , guava , kiwifruit , and parsley . Other sources rich in vitamin C are fruits such as lemons , limes , oranges , papaya , and strawberries . It

2520-489: Is needed for cellular functions throughout the body, including muscle contraction . (For low ATP within the muscle cell, see also Purine nucleotide cycle .) In the synthesis of collagen , ascorbic acid is required as a cofactor for prolyl hydroxylase and lysyl hydroxylase . These two enzymes are responsible for the hydroxylation of the proline and lysine amino acids in collagen. Hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine are important for stabilizing collagen by cross-linking

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2640-402: Is rarely present in adults, although infants and elderly people are affected. Virtually all commercially available baby formulas contain added vitamin C, preventing infantile scurvy. Human breast milk contains sufficient vitamin C, if the mother has an adequate intake. Commercial milk is pasteurized , a heating process that destroys the natural vitamin C content of the milk. Scurvy is one of

2760-418: Is required to make the building blocks for collagen , carnitine , and catecholamines , and assists the intestines in the absorption of iron from foods. Diagnosis is typically based on outward appearance, X-rays , and improvement after treatment. Treatment is with vitamin C supplements taken by mouth. Improvement often begins in a few days with complete recovery in a few weeks. Sources of vitamin C in

2880-543: The Academy of Sciences . Owen Brazil , a Moscow native but of Irish descent, was selected as the expedition's quartermaster and was placed in charge of packaging and storing supplies, such as fudge, sausages and biscuits. Bering was wary of this expansion in the proposed size of the whole expedition, given the food shortages experienced on the first voyage. Proposals were made to transports goods or men to Kamchatka by sea via Cape Horn , but these were not approved. Other than

3000-647: The Bering Sea , Bering Island , Bering Glacier and the Bering Land Bridge . Scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells , gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding from the skin may occur. As scurvy worsens, there can be poor wound healing, personality changes, and finally death from infection or bleeding. It takes at least

3120-526: The Kamchatka peninsula , build one or two ships there, and, keeping the land on his left, sail northwards until the land turned westwards, making it clear that there existed sea between Asia and North America. Instructions were left on how to proceed if North America was sighted during the voyage, which was scheduled to last three years. The natural route to Kamchatka was along tributaries of the Lena ; but after

3240-805: The Lower Kamchatka Post . This Spanberg's party did before the river froze; next, a party led by Bering completed this final stint of approximately 580 miles over land without the benefit of the river; and finally, in the spring of 1728, the last party to leave Bolsheretsk, headed by Chirikov, reached the Lower Kamchatka Post. The outpost was six thousand miles from St. Petersburg and the journey itself (the first time "so many [had] gone so far") had taken some three years. The lack of immediate food available to Spanberg's advance party slowed their progress, which hastened dramatically after Bering's and Chirikov's group arrived with provisions. As

3360-559: The Royal Navy and Merchant Navy to provide a daily " lime or lemon juice" ration of one pound to sailors to prevent scurvy. The product became nearly ubiquitous, hence the term " limey ", first for British sailors, then for English immigrants within the former British colonies (particularly America, New Zealand and South Africa), and finally, in old American slang, all British people. The plant Cochlearia officinalis , also known as "common scurvygrass", acquired its common name from

3480-457: The Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689) this looked politically infeasible. Instead, Bering's party, it was decided, would travel over land and river from St. Petersburg to Okhotsk , a small port town on Russia's eastern coast, and then by sea from Okhotsk to the Kamchatka peninsula, where they could start their voyage of exploration. On 24 January, Chirikov departed with 26 of the 34-strong expedition along

3600-682: The University of Copenhagen . Vitus however did not and instead signed on at age 15 as a ship's boy. Between 1696 and 1704, Bering travelled the seas, reaching India and the Dutch East Indies while also finding time to complete naval officer training in Amsterdam. He would also claim later (and, it seems, not without some supporting evidence) to have served on Danish whalers in the North Atlantic, visiting European colonies in

3720-537: The Ural Mountains , arriving in the small city of Tobolsk (one of the main stopping points of the journey) on 16 March. They had already travelled over 1750 miles. At Tobolsk, Bering took on more men to help the party through the more difficult journey ahead. He asked for 24 more from the garrison, before upping the request to 54 after hearing that the ship the party required at Okhotsk—the Vostok ( Восто́к , "East")—would need significant manpower to repair. In

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3840-596: The 140 horses he had set out with. On 22 August, the remainder of the party sailed for Kamchatka. Had the route been charted, they should have sailed around the peninsula and made port on its eastern coast; instead, they landed on the west and made a gruelling trip from the settlement of Bolsheretsk in the South-West, north to the Upper Kamchatka Post and then east along the Kamchatka River to

3960-540: The 20th century. For example, the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1899 became seriously affected by scurvy when its leader, Adrien de Gerlache , initially discouraged his men from eating penguin and seal meat. In the Royal Navy's Arctic expeditions in the mid 19th century it was widely believed that scurvy was prevented by good hygiene on board ship, regular exercise, and maintaining

4080-644: The Caribbean and on the eastern seaboard of North America. It was in Amsterdam, however, that in 1704 and under the guidance of Norwegian-born Russian admiral Cornelius Cruys , Bering gained an officer's commission into the Russian navy, with the rank of sub-lieutenant. He would be repeatedly promoted in Peter the Great 's rapidly evolving navy, reaching the rank of second captain by 1720. In that time, it appears he

4200-599: The Chirikov, suggesting that the 51-year-old Bering was slowly being edged out. Elsewhere, instructions were sent ahead to Yakutsk, Irkutsk and Okhotsk to aid Bering's second expedition – and thus, the naivety of the first expedition in assuming compliance was repeated. Further follies included plans to send ships north along the rivers Ob and Lena towards the Arctic. Spanberg left St. Petersburg in February 1733 with

4320-457: The French explorer Jacques Cartier , while exploring the St. Lawrence River , used the local St. Lawrence Iroquoians ' knowledge to save his men who were dying of scurvy. He boiled the needles of the arbor vitae tree ( eastern white cedar ) to make a tea that was later shown to contain 50 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams. Such treatments were not available aboard ship, where the disease

4440-637: The Lena (one would be captained by Vasili Pronchishchev and the other first by Peter Lassenius and later by Dmitry Laptev ). Both were to sail northwards, and over the coming years to chart the Arctic coastline and to test whether it was navigable. Nevertheless, Bering soon found he was quickly bogged down in Yakutsk; two parties sent east to find a better route to the Okhotsk Sea were both failures (the second coming far closer than it realised), and yet this

4560-404: The Lower Kamchatka Post, now returned to Bolsheretsk; and shortly after, so did the St. Gabriel . The delay was caused by a four-day journey Bering had embarked upon directly eastwards in search of North America, to no avail. By July 1729 the two vessels were back at Okhotsk, where they were moored alongside the Vostok ; the party, no longer needing to carry shipbuilding materials made good time on

4680-747: The Napoleonic Wars made the supply of Mediterranean lemons problematic, and because they were more easily obtained from Britain's Caribbean colonies and were believed to be more effective because they were more acidic. It was the acid, not the (then-unknown) Vitamin C that was believed to cure scurvy. In fact, the West Indian limes were significantly lower in Vitamin C than the previous lemons and further were not served fresh but rather as lime juice, which had been exposed to light and air, and piped through copper tubing, all of which significantly reduced

4800-702: The North Pacific and North America during the expedition (including the Steller sea cow and Steller's jay ). Bering himself was forced by adverse conditions to return, and he discovered some of the Aleutian Islands on his way back. One of the sailors died and was buried on one of these islands, and the group was named after him (as the Shumagin Islands ). Suffering from scurvy like many of his crew, Bering steadily became too ill to command

4920-532: The Russian administration, preventing Bering's story from being retold in full for at least a century after his death. Nonetheless, Bering's achievements, both as an individual explorer and as a leader of the second expedition, are regarded as substantial. Consequently, Bering's name has since been used for the Bering Strait (named by Captain James Cook despite knowledge of Dezhnev's earlier expedition),

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5040-503: The Vitamin C. Indeed, a 1918 animal experiment using representative samples of the Navy and Merchant Marine's lime juice showed that it had virtually no antiscorbutic power at all. The belief that scurvy was fundamentally a nutritional deficiency, best treated by consumption of fresh food, particularly fresh citrus or fresh meat, was not universal in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and thus sailors and explorers continued to have scurvy into

5160-440: The accompanying diseases of malnutrition (other such micronutrient deficiencies are beriberi and pellagra ) and thus is still widespread in areas of the world dependent on external food aid. Although rare, there are also documented cases of scurvy due to poor dietary choices by people living in industrialized nations. Vitamins are essential to the production and use of enzymes that are involved in ongoing processes throughout

5280-416: The cause of citrus juice, therefore, had no practical impact. The medical theory was based on the assumption that scurvy was a disease of internal putrefaction brought on by faulty digestion caused by the hardships of life at sea and the naval diet. Although this basic idea was given different emphases by successive theorists, the remedies they advocated (and which the navy accepted) amounted to little more than

5400-545: The ceremony took place in the Lutheran church at Vyborg , only recently annexed from Sweden. Over the next 18 years, they had nine children, four of whom survived childhood. During his time with the Russian navy – particularly as part of the Great Northern War ;– he was unable to spend much time with Anna, who was approximately eleven years Bering's junior and the daughter of a Swedish merchant. At

5520-591: The consumption of horse meat helped the French to curb an epidemic of scurvy. The meat was cooked but was freshly obtained from young horses bought from Arabs, and was nevertheless effective. This helped to start the 19th-century tradition of horse meat consumption in France. Lauchlin Rose patented a method used to preserve citrus juice without alcohol in 1867, creating a concentrated drink known as Rose's lime juice . The Merchant Shipping Act of 1867 required all ships of

5640-541: The consumption of 'fizzy drinks' to activate the digestive system, the most extreme of which was the regular consumption of 'elixir of vitriol' – sulphuric acid taken with spirits and barley water, and laced with spices. In 1764, a new and similarly inaccurate theory on scurvy appeared. Advocated by Dr David MacBride and Sir John Pringle , Surgeon General of the Army and later President of the Royal Society, this idea

5760-516: The curative effects of citrus fruit were already observed and were confirmed by Pedro Álvares Cabral and his crew in 1507. The Portuguese planted fruit trees and vegetables on Saint Helena , a stopping point for homebound voyages from Asia, and left their sick who had scurvy and other ailments to be taken home by the next ship if they recovered. In 1500, one of the pilots of Cabral 's fleet bound for India noted that in Malindi , its king offered

5880-648: The detachment killed several native Koryaks in the settlement of Utkolotsk and enslaved the remainder, bringing them back south. Steller was horrified to see the Koryaks tortured in search of the murderers. His ethical complaints, like Chirikov's more practical ones before him, were suppressed. From Petropavlovsk, Bering led his expedition towards North America. The expedition spotted the volcano Mount Saint Elias on 16 July 1741, where it briefly landed. His objective complete, ill and exhausted, Bering turned ship and headed back towards port. The return journey then included

6000-412: The diet include citrus fruit and a number of vegetables, including red peppers, broccoli, and tomatoes. Cooking often decreases the residual amount of vitamin C in foods. Scurvy is rare compared to other nutritional deficiencies. It occurs more often in the developing world in association with malnutrition . Rates among refugees are reported at 5 to 45 percent. Scurvy was described as early as

6120-462: The discovery of Kodiak Island . A storm separated the ships, but Bering sighted the southern coast of Alaska , and a landing was made at Kayak Island or in the vicinity. Under the command of Aleksei Chirikov , the second ship discovered the shores of northwest America ( Aleksander Archipelago of present-day Alaska). Steller ensured the voyage recorded the wildlife it encountered, discovering and describing several species of plant and animal native to

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6240-696: The early 1730s (Saunders and Kirilov) were now dead, and there were occasional moves to either terminate the expedition or to replace Bering. Meanwhile, a fourth ship, the Bolsheretsk ( Большерецк ) was constructed and Spanberg (having identified some 30 Kuril Islands on his first trip) led the four ships on a second voyage, which saw the first Russians land in Japan. In August 1740, with the main, America-bound expedition almost ready, Anna Bering returned to St. Petersburg with her and Vitus' younger children. Bering would never see his wife again. Those without places on

6360-470: The end, the governor could spare only 39, but it still represented a significant expansion in numbers for the party. In addition, Bering wanted 60 carpenters and 7 blacksmiths; the governor responded that half of these would have to be taken on later, at Yeniseysk . After some delays preparing equipment and funds, on 14 May the now much enlarged party left Tobolsk, heading along the Irtysh . The journey ahead to

6480-417: The expedition fresh supplies such as lambs, chickens, and ducks, along with lemons and oranges, due to which "some of our ill were cured of scurvy". These travel accounts did not stop further maritime tragedies caused by scurvy, first because of the lack of communication between travelers and those responsible for their health, and because fruits and vegetables could not be kept for long on ships. In 1536,

6600-400: The expedition spotted Mount Saint Elias , and sailed past Kodiak Island . A storm separated the ships, but Bering sighted the southern coast of Alaska , and a landing was made at Kayak Island or in the vicinity. Adverse conditions forced a return, but he documented some of the Aleutian Islands on his way back. One of the sailors died and was buried on one of these islands, and Bering named

6720-482: The family – Bering, his wife Anna, and two young sons – moved out of St. Petersburg to live with Anna's family in Vyborg. After a period of joblessness lasting five months, however, Bering (keenly aware of his dependents), decided to reapply to the Admiralty. He was accepted for a renewed period of active service the same day. By 2 October 1724, Bering (retaining the rank of first captain he had secured earlier in

6840-468: The first (small) detachment of the second expedition, bound for Okhotsk. Chirikov followed on 18 April with the main contingent (initially 500 people and eventually swelling to approximately 3000 after labourers were added). Following them, on 29 April Bering followed with Anna and their two youngest children – their two eldest, both sons, were left with friends in Reval . The academic contingent, including

6960-495: The geography of Eastern Siberia, and presented useful evidence that Asia and North America were separated by sea. Bering had not, however, proved the separation beyond doubt. Bering soon proposed a second Kamchatka expedition, much more ambitious than the first and with an explicit aim of sailing east in search of North America. The political situation in the Russian Empire was difficult, however, and this meant delays. In

7080-623: The head of a 34-man expedition, aided by the expertise of Lieutenants Martin Spanberg and Aleksei Chirikov . The party took on men as it headed towards Okhotsk , encountering many difficulties before arriving at the settlement. From there, the men sailed to the Kamchatka Peninsula, preparing new ships there and sailing north – repeating a little-documented journey of Semyon Dezhnyov 80 years' previously. In August 1728, he decided that they had sufficient evidence that there

7200-526: The human body. Ascorbic acid is needed for a variety of biosynthetic pathways, by accelerating hydroxylation and amidation reactions. The early symptoms of malaise and lethargy may be due to either impaired fatty acid metabolism from lack of carnitine, and/or from lack of catecholamines which are needed for the cAMP-dependent pathway in both glycogen metabolism and fatty acid metabolism. Impairment of either fatty acid metabolism or glycogen metabolism leads to decreased ATP (energy) production. ATP

7320-476: The interim, the Berings enjoyed their new-found status and wealth: there was a new house and a new social circle for the newly ennobled Berings. Bering also made a bequest to the poor of Horsens, had two children with Anna and even attempted to establish his familial coat of arms. The proposal, when it was accepted, would a significant affair, which involved 600 people from the outset and several hundred added along

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7440-495: The island group Shumagin Islands after him. Bering himself became too ill to command his ship, which was at last driven to seek refuge on an uninhabited island in the Commander Islands group in the southwest Bering Sea. On 19 December 1741, Bering died on the island, which was given the name Bering Island after him, near the Kamchatka Peninsula, reportedly from scurvy , along with 28 men of his company. Vitus Bering

7560-526: The journey, which would become known as the First Kamchatka Expedition, were the hardened Danish-born Russian Martin Spanberg and the well-educated but relatively inexperienced Russian Aleksei Chirikov , a respected naval instructor. They would receive annual salaries of some 180 roubles during the trip; Bering would be paid 480. The final papers from Peter before his death on 28 January made it clear to Bering that he should proceed to

7680-443: The lack of available game to hunt at high latitudes in winter meant it was not always a viable remedy. Criticism also focused on the fact that some of the men most affected by scurvy on Naval polar expeditions had apparently been heavy drinkers, with suggestions that this predisposed them to the condition. Even cooking fresh meat did not entirely destroy its antiscorbutic properties, especially as many cooking methods failed to bring all

7800-495: The lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in the winter. There the disease was called Spring fever or Spring disease and described an often fatal condition associated with skin lesions, bleeding gums and lethargy. It was eventually identified as scurvy and the remedies already in use at sea implemented. The surgeon-in-chief of Napoleon 's army at the Siege of Alexandria (1801) , Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey , wrote in his memoirs that

7920-608: The late Middle Ages, scurvy was common in late winter, when few green vegetables, fruits and root vegetables were available. This gradually improved with the introduction from the Americas of potatoes; by 1800, scurvy was virtually unheard of in Scotland, where it had previously been endemic. In 2009, a handwritten household book authored by a Cornishwoman in 1707 was discovered in a house in Hasfield, Gloucestershire , containing

8040-457: The late stages, jaundice , generalised edema , oliguria , neuropathy , fever, convulsions, and eventual death are frequently seen. Scurvy, including subclinical scurvy, is caused by a deficiency of dietary vitamin C, since humans are unable to metabolically synthesize vitamin C. Provided the diet contains sufficient vitamin C, the lack of working L-gulonolactone oxidase (GULO) enzyme has no significance, and in modern Western societies, scurvy

8160-595: The list of the remedies he was ordered to investigate. The others were beer, Sauerkraut (a good source of vitamin C) and Lind's 'rob'. The list did not include lemons. Cook did not lose a single man to scurvy, and his report came down in favour of malt and wort, although it is now clear that the reason for the health of his crews on this and other voyages was Cook's regime of shipboard cleanliness, enforced by strict discipline, as well as frequent replenishment of fresh food and greenstuffs. Another beneficial rule implemented by Cook

8280-559: The medical authorities in Britain remained committed to the notion that scurvy was a disease of internal 'putrefaction' and the Sick and Hurt Board, run by administrators, felt obliged to follow its advice. Within the Royal Navy, however, opinion – strengthened by first-hand experience of the use of lemon juice at the siege of Gibraltar and during Admiral Rodney's expedition to the Caribbean – had become increasingly convinced of its efficacy. This

8400-402: The morale of the crew, rather than by a diet of fresh food. Navy expeditions continued to be plagued by scurvy even while fresh (not jerked or tinned) meat was well known as a practical antiscorbutic among civilian whalers and explorers in the Arctic. In the latter half of the 19th century there was greater recognition of the value of eating fresh meat as a means of avoiding or treating scurvy, but

8520-483: The mountains separating Yakutsk (their next stop) to Okhotsk on the coast. After leaving Ust-Kut when the river ice melted in the spring of 1726, the party rapidly travelled down the River Lena, reaching Yakutsk in the first half of June. Despite the need for hurry and men being sent in advance, the governor was slow to grant them the resources they needed, prompting threats from Bering. On 7 July, Spanberg left with

8640-587: The native tribes they would later encounter; it arrived at Yakutsk in August 1734. The main grouping, now under Chirikov's command left Tobolsk in May 1734, but had a more difficult trek and one which required harsh discipline be imposed to prevent desertions. Nonetheless, it arrived in Yakutsk in June 1735. Whilst Spanberg headed east to Okhotsk, Bering waited in Yakutsk where he partied for a long time, preparing two ships on

8760-424: The next major stopping point Yakutsk , was well-worn, but rarely by groups as large as Bering's, who had the additional difficulty of needing to take on more men as the journey progressed. As a result, the party ran behind schedule, reaching Surgut on 30 May and Makovsk in late June before entering Yeniseysk, where the additional men could be taken on; Bering would later claim that "few were suitable". In any case,

8880-475: The next three years, Bering himself was criticised on an increasingly regular basis (his salary had already been halved in 1737 when the originally planned four years ran out); the delays also caused friction between Bering, Chirikov (who felt unduly constrained) and Spanberg (who felt Bering was too weak in his dealings with the local peoples). The two key figures who had been so useful to Bering in St. Petersburg back in

9000-528: The observation that it cured scurvy, and it was taken on board ships in dried bundles or distilled extracts. Its very bitter taste was usually disguised with herbs and spices; however, this did not prevent scurvygrass drinks and sandwiches from becoming a popular fad in the UK until the middle of the nineteenth century, when citrus fruits became more readily available. West Indian limes began to take over from lemons, when Spain's alliance with France against Britain in

9120-590: The other three ships did not receive any such treatment. As a result, members of the non-treated ships started to contract scurvy, with many dying as a result. It has been estimated by researchers that during the Age of Exploration (between 1500 and 1800), scurvy killed at least two million sailors . Jonathan Lamb wrote: "In 1499, Vasco da Gama lost 116 of his crew of 170; In 1520, Magellan lost 208 out of 230; ... all mainly to scurvy." In 1593, Admiral Sir Richard Hawkins advocated drinking orange and lemon juice as

9240-431: The party left Yeniseysk on 12 August, desperately needing to make up lost time. On 26 September they arrived at Ilimsk , just three days before the river froze over. After the party had completed an eighty-mile trek to Ust-Kut , a town on the Lena where they could spend the winter, Bering travelled on to the town of Irkutsk both to get a sense of the conditions and to seek advice on how best to get their large party across

9360-410: The possibilities of producing a concentrated 'rob' of lemon juice by boiling it. This process destroyed the vitamin C and was therefore unsuccessful. During the 18th century, scurvy killed more British sailors than wartime enemy action. It was mainly by scurvy that George Anson , in his celebrated voyage of 1740–1744, lost nearly two-thirds of his crew (1,300 out of 2,000) within the first 10 months of

9480-487: The primary cause of the disease", and urged the use of fresh fruit and vegetables as a cure. It was not until 1747 that James Lind formally demonstrated that scurvy could be treated by supplementing the diet with citrus fruit, in one of the first controlled clinical experiments reported in the history of medicine. As a naval surgeon on HMS Salisbury , Lind had compared several suggested scurvy cures: hard cider , vitriol , vinegar , seawater , oranges , lemons , and

9600-539: The propeptides in collagen. Collagen is a primary structural protein in the human body, necessary for healthy blood vessels, muscle, skin, bone, cartilage, and other connective tissues. Defective connective tissue leads to fragile capillaries, resulting in abnormal bleeding, bruising, and internal hemorrhaging. Collagen is an important part of bone, so bone formation is also affected. Teeth loosen, bones break more easily, and once-healed breaks may recur. Defective collagen fibrillogenesis impairs wound healing. Untreated scurvy

9720-449: The return journey from Okhotsk, and by 28 February 1730 Bering was back in the Russian capital. In December 1731 he would be awarded 1000 roubles and promoted to captain-commander, his first noble rank (Spanberg and Chirikov were similarly promoted to captain). It had been a long and expensive expedition, costing 15 men and souring relations between Russia and her native peoples: but it had provided useful new (though not perfect) insights into

9840-407: The scale of Bering's achievements is difficult, given that he was neither the first Russian to sight North America (that having been achieved by Mikhail Gvozdev during the 1730s), nor the first Russian to pass through the strait which now bears his name (an honour which goes to the relatively unknown 17th-century expedition of Semyon Dezhnev ). Reports from his second voyage were jealously guarded by

9960-498: The seas as a ship's boy at the age of 15, Bering travelled extensively over the next eight years, as well as taking naval training in Amsterdam. In 1704, he enrolled with the rapidly expanding navy of Tsar Peter I . After serving with the navy in significant but non-combat roles during the Great Northern War , Bering resigned in 1724 to avoid the continuing embarrassment of his low rank to his wife; and upon retirement

10080-504: The ship was back at the mouth of the Kamchatka River, fifty days after it had left. The mission was at its conclusion, but the party still needed to make it back to St. Petersburg to document the voyage (thus avoiding the fate of Semyon Dezhnyov who, unbeknownst to Bering, had made a similar expedition eighty years previously). In the spring of 1729, the Fortuna , which had sailed round the Kamchatka Peninsula to bring supplies to

10200-469: The ship would sail for a few more days, but then turn back. The expedition was neither at the most easterly point of Asia (as Bering had supposed) nor had it succeeded in discovering the Alaskan coast of America, which on a clear day would have been visible to the east. As promised, on 16 August, Bering turned the St. Gabriel around, heading back towards Kamchatka. Not before a storm forced hasty repairs,

10320-514: The ship, passing control to Sven Waxell . Storms, however, meant that the crew of the St. Peter was soon driven to refuge on an uninhabited island in the Commander Islands group ( Komandorskiye Ostrova ) in the south-west Bering Sea . On 19 December 1741 Vitus Bering died on the uninhabited island near the Kamchatka Peninsula , which was later given the name Bering Island in his honour. Like 28 men of his company, Bering's death

10440-432: The supply of the huge quantities of lemon juice required to be secured, but by 1800, the system was in place and functioning. This led to a remarkable health improvement among the sailors and consequently played a critical role in gaining the advantage in naval battles against enemies who had yet to introduce the measures. Scurvy was not only a disease of seafarers. The early colonists of Australia suffered greatly because of

10560-407: The three professors, left in August. Soon catching the main party, Bering and Chirikov led the group eastwards, descending on Tobolsk for the winter. The arrival of such a large party with such great demands – and so soon after Spanberg had made similar demands – put a strain on the town. Bering and a small advance party left Tobolsk in later February, stopping at Irkutsk to pick up gifts for

10680-466: The throne, he and Kirilov worked to find a new, more dependable administrator to run Okhotsk and to begin work on improving the roads between Yakutsk and the coastal settlement. Their choice for the post of administrator, made remotely, was Grigory Skornyakov-Pisarev ; possibly the least bad candidate, he would nevertheless turn out to be a poor choice. In any case, Skornyakov-Pisarev was ordered in 1731 to proceed to Okhotsk, with directions to expand it into

10800-719: The time of ancient Egypt , and historically it was a limiting factor in long-distance sea travel, often killing large numbers of people. During the Age of Sail , it was assumed that 50 percent of the sailors would die of scurvy on a major trip. Early symptoms are malaise and lethargy . After one to three months, patients develop shortness of breath and bone pain . Myalgias may occur because of reduced carnitine production. Other symptoms include skin changes with roughness, easy bruising and petechiae , gum disease , loosening of teeth, poor wound healing, and emotional changes (which may appear before any physical changes). Dry mouth and dry eyes similar to Sjögren's syndrome may occur. In

10920-565: The trail from Okhotsk rescued seven men and much of the cargo that had been left behind. Okhotsk's inhabitants described the winter as the worst they could recall; Bering seized flour from the local villagers to ensure that his party too could take advantage of their stocks and consequently the whole village soon faced the threat of starvation. The explorer later reported how it was only the arrival of an advance party of Chirikov's division in June with 27 tons of flour that ensured his party (by then diminished in numbers) could be fed. The Vostok

11040-519: The trip had begun some years before, but with his health rapidly deteriorating, the Tsar had ordered that the process be hurried, and it was with this backdrop that Bering (with his knowledge of both the Indian Ocean and the eastern seaboard of North America, good personal skills and experience in transporting goods) was selected ahead of the experienced cartographer K. P. von Verd. His lieutenants for

11160-544: The voyage. The Royal Navy enlisted 184,899 sailors during the Seven Years' War ; 133,708 of these were "missing" or died from disease, and scurvy was the leading cause. Although throughout this period sailors and naval surgeons were increasingly convinced that citrus fruits could cure scurvy, the classically trained physicians who determined medical policy dismissed this evidence as merely anecdotal, as it did not conform to their theories of disease. Literature championing

11280-447: The war's conclusion in 1721, Bering was not promoted like many of his contemporaries. The omission proved particularly embarrassing when, in 1724, Anna's younger sister Eufemia upstaged her by marrying Thomas Saunders, already a rear-admiral despite a much shorter period of service. In order to save face, the 42-year-old Bering decided to retire from the navy, securing two months' pay and a notional promotion to first captain. Shortly after,

11400-587: The way. Though Bering seems to have been primarily interested in landing in North America, he recognised the importance of secondary objectives: the list of which expanded rapidly under the guidance of planners Nikolai Fedorovich Golovin (head of the Admiralty ); Ivan Kirilov , a highly ranked politician with an interest in geography, and Andrey Osterman , a close adviser of the new Empress, Anna Ivanovna . As Bering waited for Anna to solidify her grip on

11520-555: The well-travelled roads to Vologda , 411 miles (661 km) to the east. Having waited for the necessary paperwork to be completed, Bering and the remaining members of the expedition followed on 6 February. Bering was supplied with what few maps Peter had managed to commission in the preceding years. Both parties used horse-drawn sledges and made good time over the first legs of the journey. On 14 February they were reunited in Vologda, and, now travelling together, headed eastwards across

11640-544: The whole Arctic coast, finding a good route south to Japan, landing on the Shantar Islands and even making contact with Spanish America. On 12 June the Senate approved resources to fund an academic contingent for the expedition, and three academics – Johann Georg Gmelin (a natural historian), Louis de l'Isle de la Croyère (an astronomer), and Gerhard Friedrich Müller (an anthropologist) – were selected by

11760-417: The wort, malt and elixir of vitriol which were still being issued to ships of the Royal Navy, and demanded that he be supplied with lemons, to counteract scurvy on the voyage. Members of the Sick and Hurt Board, recently augmented by two practical naval surgeons, supported the request, and the Admiralty ordered that it be done. There was, however, a last minute change of plan, and the expedition against Mauritius

11880-403: The year) was back on the sea, commanding the ninety-gun Lesnoe ( Russian : Лесное , "Forest"). The Tsar would soon have a new command for him, however. On 29 December 1724 [ N.S. 9 January 1725] , Peter I of Russia ordered Bering to command a voyage east, probably to map the lands (and possibly seas) between Russia's eastern boundary and the North America continent. Preparations for

12000-874: Was a Danish-born Russian cartographer and explorer, and an officer in the Russian Navy . He is known as a leader of two Russian expeditions, namely the First Kamchatka Expedition and the Great Northern Expedition , exploring the north-eastern coast of the Asian continent and from there the western coast on the North American continent. The Bering Strait , the Bering Sea , Bering Island , the Bering Glacier , and Vitus Lake were all named in his honor. Taking to

12120-493: Was accompanied by its sister creation the St. Paul ( Святой Павел , Sviatoi Pavel ) and the Nadezhda . Delayed by the Nadezhda ' s hitting a sand bank and then being beaten by a storm, such that it was forced to stay at Bolsheretsk, the two other ships arrived in their destination of Avacha Bay in south-eastern Kamchatka on 6 October. The foundation of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky , including warehouses, living quarters and

12240-609: Was born in the port town of Horsens in Denmark to Anne Pedderdatter and her husband Jonas Svendsen (a "customs inspector and churchwarden") and was baptized in the Lutheran church there on 5 August 1681. He was named after a maternal great-uncle, Vitus Pedersen Bering , who had been a chronicler in the royal court, and was not long deceased at the time of Vitus Jonassen Bering's birth. The family enjoyed reasonable financial security, with two of Vitus' elder half-brothers both attending

12360-550: Was cancelled. On 2 May 1794, only HMS  Suffolk and two sloops under Commodore Peter Rainier sailed for the east with an outward bound convoy, but the warships were fully supplied with lemon juice and the sugar with which it had to be mixed. In March 1795, it was reported that the Suffolk had arrived in India after a four-month voyage without a trace of scurvy and with a crew that was healthier than when it set out. The effect

12480-436: Was clear sea between Asia and America, which he did not sight during the trip. For the first expedition, He was rewarded with money, prestige, and a promotion to the noble rank of captain commander. He immediately started preparations for a second trip. Having returned to Okhotsk with a much larger, better prepared, and much more ambitious expedition, Bering set off for an expedition towards North America in 1741. While doing so,

12600-415: Was commonly assumed to have been the result of scurvy (although this has since been contested ); certainly, it had afflicted him in the final months. The situation was still dire for Bering's expedition (now headed by Waxell), many of them, including Waxell, were still ill and the St. Peter was in poor condition. By April 1742 the party had ascertained that they were on an island. They decided to construct

12720-431: Was convinced that fresh oranges and lemons were essential for preventing scurvy. Only one outbreak occurred, during a 56-day trip across the open sea. Five sailors came down with symptoms, one seriously. After three days at Guam all five were healthy again. Spain's large empire and many ports of call made it easier to acquire fresh fruit. Although towards the end of the century MacBride's theories were being challenged,

12840-586: Was decided that Chirikov would follow the next spring with fresh supplies of flour. The journeys were as difficult as Bering had worried they would be. Both men and horses died, whilst other men (46 from Bering's party alone) deserted with their horses and portions of the supplies as they struggled to build roads across difficult marshland and river terrain. If Bering's party (which reached Okhotsk in October) fared badly, however, Spanberg's fared far worse. His heavily loaded boats could be tugged at no more than one mile

12960-450: Was his prohibition of the consumption of salt fat skimmed from the ship's copper boiling pans, then a common practice elsewhere in the Navy. In contact with air, the copper formed compounds that prevented the absorption of vitamins by the intestines. The first major long distance expedition that experienced virtually no scurvy was that of the Spanish naval officer Alessandro Malaspina , 1789–1794. Malaspina's medical officer, Pedro González,

13080-418: Was immediate. Fleet commanders clamoured also to be supplied with lemon juice, and by June the Admiralty acknowledged the groundswell of demand in the navy and agreed to a proposal from the Sick and Hurt Board that lemon juice and sugar should in future be issued as a daily ration to the crews of all warships. It took a few years before the method of distribution to all ships in the fleet had been perfected and

13200-406: Was information the expedition desperately needed. Bering decided to prepare a similar land route to the one he had used on the first expedition instead, constructing huts along the route in advance. It was work, however, that was still unfinished even by the summer of 1737, such were the delays. At Okhotsk things were little better; it was "ill-suited to be a permanent port", and Skornyakov-Pisarev

13320-404: Was long and complex and had little impact. Lind himself never actively promoted lemon juice as a single 'cure'. He shared medical opinion at the time that scurvy had multiple causes – notably hard work, bad water, and the consumption of salt meat in a damp atmosphere which inhibited healthful perspiration and normal excretion – and therefore required multiple solutions. Lind was also sidetracked by

13440-490: Was most common. Later, possibly inspired by this incident, several European countries experimented with preparations of various conifers, such as spruce beer , as cures for scurvy. In 1579, the Spanish friar and physician Agustin Farfán published a book Tractado breve de anathomía y chirugía, y de algunas enfermedades que más comúnmente suelen haver en esta Nueva España in which he recommended oranges and lemons for scurvy,

13560-514: Was not involved in any sea battles, but commanded several vessels on potentially dangerous missions, including the transport of a ship from the Azov Sea on Russia's southern coast to the Baltic on her northern coast. His work in the latter stages of the Great Northern War (ending in 1721), for example, was dominated by lightering duties. On 8 October 1713, Bering married Anna Christina Pülse;

13680-508: Was promoted to first captain. Bering was permitted to keep the rank as he rejoined the Russian Navy later the same year. He was selected by the tsar to captain the First Kamchatka Expedition, an expedition set to sail north from Russian outposts on the Kamchatka Peninsula , with the charge to map the new areas visited and to establish whether Asia and America shared a land border. Bering departed from Saint Petersburg in February 1725 as

13800-462: Was readied and the Fortuna built at a rapid pace, with the first party (48 men commanded by Spanberg and comprising those required to start work on the ships that would have to be built in Kamchatka itself as soon as possible) leaving in June 1727. Chirikov himself arrived in Okhotsk soon after, bringing further supplies of food. He had had a relatively easy trip, losing none of his men and only 17 of

13920-406: Was reinforced by the writings of experts like Gilbert Blane and Thomas Trotter and by the reports of up-and-coming naval commanders. With the coming of war in 1793, the need to eliminate scurvy acquired a new urgency. But the first initiative came not from the medical establishment but from the admirals. Ordered to lead an expedition against Mauritius, Rear Admiral Gardner was uninterested in

14040-505: Was reported to have taken less than two weeks. Scurvy will improve with doses of vitamin C as low as 10 mg per day though doses of around 100 mg per day are typically recommended. Most people make a full recovery within 2 weeks. Symptoms of scurvy have been recorded in Ancient Egypt as early as 1550  BCE . In Ancient Greece , the physician Hippocrates (460–370 BC) described symptoms of scurvy, specifically

14160-537: Was slow to construct the buildings needed. Spanberg was, however, able to ready the ships the expedition needed. By the end of 1737 the St. Gabriel had been refitted; additionally, two new ships—the Archangel Michael ( Архангел Михаил , Arkhangel Mikhail ) and the Nadezhda ( Надежда )—had been constructed and were rapidly readied for a voyage to Japan, a country with which Russia had never had contact. The same year, Bering took up residence in Okhotsk. It

14280-463: Was that scurvy was the result of a lack of 'fixed air' in the tissues which could be prevented by drinking infusions of malt and wort whose fermentation within the body would stimulate digestion and restore the missing gases. These ideas received wide and influential backing, when James Cook set off to circumnavigate the world (1768–1771) in HM Bark ; Endeavour , malt and wort were top of

14400-481: Was the fifth year of the expedition, and the original costings now looked naive compared to the true costs of the trip. The additional costs (300,000 roubles compared to the 12,000 budgeted) brought poverty to the whole region. On 29 June 1738, Spanberg set off for the Kuril Islands with the three ships he had prepared. After he had left there were further delays, probably due to a lack of natural resources. Over

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