Volume Ii Part 29 (2/2)

It may seem strange, that though this herb hath had so high encomiums bestowed upon it by the ancients (witness what Cato the elder and Pliny the Naturalist say on the subject), and hath had the sanction of the experience of nations for ages, it should yet be disapproved of by some of the most distinguished medical writers of our times. One finds it yield a rank smell in decoction, which he confounds with that of putrefaction. Another a.n.a.lyzes it, and discovers so much gross air in the composition as to render it indigestible; yet this flatulence, so much decryed, must now be acknowledged to be the _fixed air_, which makes the cabbage so wholesome when fermented. Nay it hath been traduced by one of the most celebrated physicians of our age, as partaking of a poisonous nature: nor much better founded was that notion of the same ill.u.s.trious professor, that cabbage being an alcalescent plant, and therefore disposing to putrefaction, could never be used in the scurvy, except when the disease proceeded from an acid. But the experiments which I formerly laid before the Society evinced this vegetable, with the rest of the supposed alcalescents, to be really acescent; and proved that the scurvy is never owing to acidity, but, much otherwise, to a species of putrefaction; that very cause, of which the ill-grounded cla.s.s of alcalescents was supposed to be a promoter*.

[* See this remark more at large, in my Observations on the Diseases of the Army, App. Pap. 7.]

Among other of the late improvements of the naval stores we have heard much of the Portable-Soup, and accordingly we find that Captain Cook hath not a little availed himself of it in his voyage. This concentrated broth being freed from all fat, and having by long boiling evaporated the most putrescent parts of the meat, is reduced to the consistence of a glue, which in effect it is, and will, like other glues, in a dry place, keep sound for years together. It hath been said, that broths turn sour on keeping, though made without any vegetable*. Now, whether any real acid can be thus formed or not, I incline at least to believe that the gelatinous parts of animal substances, such as compose these cakes, are not of a nature much disposed to putrefy. But however that may be, since Captain Cook observes, that this soup was the means of making his people eat a greater quant.i.ty of greens than they would have done otherwise, in so far we must allow it to have been virtually antiseptic.

[* La feule matiere qui s'aigriffe dans le sang est la matiere gelatincuse, etc. Senac, Structure du Coeur, 1. iii. ch. 4. para. 5.]

So much for those articles that have of late been supplied to all the king's s.h.i.+ps on long voyages, and in which therefore our worthy brother claims no other merit than the prudent dispensation of them; but what follows being regulations either wholly new, or improven hints from some of his experienced friends, we may justly appropriate them to himself.

First then, he put his people at three watches, instead of two, which last is the general practice at sea; that is, he divided the whole crew into three companies, and by putting each company upon the watch by turns, four hours at a time, every man had eight hours free, for four of duty: whereas at watch and watch, the half of the men being on duty at once, with returns of it every four hours, they can have but broken sleep, and when exposed to wet, they have not time to get dry before they lie down. When the service requires it, such hards.h.i.+ps must be endured; but when there is no pressing call, ought not a mariner to be refreshed with as much uninterrupted rest as a common day-labourer?

I am well informed, that an officer distinguishes himself in nothing more than in preserving his men from wet and the other injuries of the weather. These were most essential points with this humane commander. In the torrid zone he shaded his people from the scorching sun by an awning over his deck, and in his course under the antarctic circle he had a coat provided for each man, of a substantial woollen stuff, with the addition of a hood for covering their heads. This garb (which the sailors called their Magellan jacket) they occasionally wore, and found it more comfortable for working in rain and snow, and among the broken ice in the high lat.i.tudes of the South.

Let us proceed to another article, one of the most material, the care to guard against putrefaction, by keeping clean the persons, the cloaths, bedding, and berths of the sailors. The Captain acquainted me, that regularly, one morning in the week, he pa.s.sed his s.h.i.+p's company in review, and saw that every man had changed his linen, and was in other points as clean and neat as circ.u.mstances would permit. It is well known how much cleanliness is conducive to health, but it is not so obvious how much it also tends to good order and other virtues. That diligent officer was persuaded (nor was perhaps the observation new) that such men as he could induce to be more cleanly than they were disposed to be of themselves, became at the same time more sober, more orderly, and more attentive to their duty. It must be acknowledged that a seaman has but indifferent means to keep himself clean, had he the greatest inclination to do it; for I have not heard that commanders of s.h.i.+ps have yet availed themselves of the _still_ for providing fresh water for was.h.i.+ng; and it is well known that sea-water doth not mix with soap, and that linen wet with brine never thoroughly dries. But for Captain Cook, the frequent opportunities he had of taking in water among the islands of the South-Sea, enabled him in that tract to dispense to his s.h.i.+p's company some fresh water for every use; and when he navigated in the high lat.i.tudes of the Southern Oceans, he still more abundantly provided them with it, as you will find by the sequel of this discourse.

Of the hammocks and bedding I need say little, as all officers are now sensible, how much it concerns the health of their people to have this part of a s.h.i.+p's furniture kept dry and well-aired; since by the perspiration of so many men, every thing below, even in the s.p.a.ce of twenty-four hours, is apt to contract an offensive moisture. But Captain Cook was not satisfied with ordering upon deck the hammocks and bedding every day that was fair (the common method) but took care that every bundle should be unlashed, and so spread out, that every part of it might be exposed to the air.

His next concern was to see to the purity of the s.h.i.+p itself, without which attention all the rest would have profited little. I shall not however detain you with the orders about was.h.i.+ng and sc.r.a.ping the decks, as I do not understand that in this kind of cleansing he excelled others; but since our author has laid so great a stress upon _Fire_, as a purifier, I shall endeavour to explain the way of using it, more fully than he has done in his Paper. Some wood, and that not sparingly, being put into a proper stove or grate, is lighted, and carried successively to every part below deck. Wherever fire is, the air nearest to it being heated becomes specifically lighter, and by being lighter rises, and pa.s.ses through the hatchways into the atmosphere. The vacant s.p.a.ce is filled with the cold air around, and that being heated in its turn, in like manner ascends, and is replaced by other air as before. Thus, by continuing the fire for some time, in any of the lower apartments, the foul air is in a good measure driven out, and the fresh admitted. This is not all: I apprehend that the acid steams of the wood, in burning, act here as an antiseptic and correct the corrupted air that remains.

An officer of distinguished rank, another of Captain Cook's experienced friends, mentioned to me a common and just observation in the fleet, which was, that all the old twenty-gun s.h.i.+ps were remarkably less sickly than those of the same size of a modern construction. This, he said, was a circ.u.mstance he could not otherwise account for, than, by the former having their _galley_* in the fore-part of the _orlop_**, the chimney vented so ill, that it was sure to fill every part with smoke whenever the wind was a-stern. This was a nuisance for the time, but, as he thought, abundantly compensated by the extraordinary good health of the several crews. Possibly those fire-places were also beneficial, by drying and ventilating the lower decks, more when they were below, than they can do now that they are placed under the fore-castle upon the upper deck.

[* Their fire-place or kitchen.]

[** The deck immediately above the hold.]

But the most obvious use of the portable fires was their drying up the moisture, and especially in those places where there was the least circulation of air. This humidity, composed of the perspirable matter of a mult.i.tude of men, and often of animals (kept for a live-flock) and of the steams of the bilge water from the well, where the corruption is the greatest; this putrid moisture, I say, being one of the main sources of the scurvy, was therefore more particularly attended to, in order to its removal. The fires were the powerful instrument for that purpose, and whilst they burned, some men were employed in rubbing hard, with canva.s.s or oak.u.m, every part of the inside of the s.h.i.+p that was damp and accessible. But the advantage of fire appears no where so manifest as in cleansing the well; for this being in the lowest part of the hold, the whole leakage runs into it, whether of the s.h.i.+p itself, or of the casks of spoilt meats or corrupted water. The mephitic vapours, from this sink alone, have often been the cause of instantaneous death to those who have unwarily approached to clean it; and not to one only, but to several successively, when they have gone down to succour their unfortunate companions: yet this very place has not only been rendered safe but sweet, by means of an iron pot filled with fire and let down to burn in it.

When, from the circ.u.mstances of the weather, this salutary operation could not take place, the s.h.i.+p was fumigated with gun-powder, as described in the Paper; though that smoke could have no effect in drying, but only in remedying the corruption of the air, by means of the acid spirits from the sulphur and nitre, aided perhaps by some species of an aerial fluid, then disengaged from the fuel, to counteract putrefaction.

But as these purifications by gun-powder, as well as by burning tar and other resinous substances, are sufficiently known, I shall not insist longer on them here.

Among the several means of sweetening or renewing the air, we should expect to hear of Dr. Hales's _Ventilator_. I must confess it was my expectation, and therefore, persuaded as I was of the excellence of the invention, it was not without much regret that I saw so good an opportunity lost, of giving the same favourable impression of it to the Public. If a degree of success, exceeding our most sanguine hopes, is not sufficient for justifying the omission of a measure, deemed one of the most essential for attaining an end, I would plead in favour of our worthy brother, that by a humiliating fatality, so often accompanying the most useful discoveries, the credit of this ventilator is yet far from being firmly established in the navy. What wonder then, if Captain Cook being so much otherwise taken up, should not have had time to examine it, and therefore avoided the enc.u.mbering his s.h.i.+p with an apparatus, he had possibly never seen used, and of which he had at best received but a doubtful character? Nor was he altogether unprovided with a machine for ventilation. He had the _Wind-Sails_, though he hath not mentioned them in his Paper, and he told me that he had found them at times very serviceable, and particularly between the Tropics. They have the merit of taking up little room, they require no labour in working, and the contrivance is so simple that they can sail in no hands. But their powers are small in comparison with those of the ventilator; they cannot be put up in hard gales of wind, and they are of no efficacy in dead calms, when a refreshment of the air is most wanted. Should there be any objection to the employing both?

Such were the measures taken by our sagacious Navigator for procuring a purity of air. It remains only to see in what manner he supplied pure water; another article of so great moment, that the thirsty voyager, upon his salt and putrid diet, with a short allowance of this element, and that in a corrupted Rate, must account a plentiful provision of fresh water to be indeed the _best of things_.

Captain Cook was not without an apparatus for distilling sea-water, and though he could not obtain nearly so much as was expected from the invention, yet he sometimes availed himself of it; but for the most of his voyage he was otherwise provided. Within the Southern Tropic, in the Pacific Ocean, he found so many islands, and those so well stored with springs, that, as I have hinted before, he seldom was without a sufficiency of fresh water for every useful purpose. But not satisfied with plenty, he would have the purest; and therefore whenever an opportunity offered, he emptied what he had taken in but a few days before, and filled his casks anew. But was he not above four months in his pa.s.sage from the Cape of Good Hope to New Zeeland, in the frozen zone of the South, without once seeing land? and did he not actually complete his circ.u.mnavigation, in that high lat.i.tude, without the benefit of a single fountain? Here was indeed a _wonder of the Deep_! I may call it the _Romance of his Voyage_! Those very shoals, fields, and floating mountains of ice, among which he steered his perilous course, and which presented such terrifying prospects of destruction; those, I say, were the very means of his support, by supplying him abundantly with what he most wanted. It had been said that those stupendous ma.s.ses of ice, called _islands_ or _mountains_, melted into fresh water, though Crantz, the relator of that paradox, did not imagine they originated from the sea, but that they were first formed in the great rivers of the North, and being carried down into the ocean, were afterwards increased to that amazing height by the snow that fell upon them*. But that all frozen sea-water would thaw into fresh, had either never been a.s.serted, or had met with little credit. This is certain that Captain Cook expected no such trans.m.u.tation, and therefore was agreeably surprised to find he had one difficulty less to encounter, that of preserving the health of his men so long on salt-provisions, with a scanty allowance of corrupted water, or what he could procure by distillation The melted ice of the sea was not only fresh but soft, and so wholesome, as to show the fallacy of human reason unsupported by experiments. An ancient of great authority had a.s.signed, from theory, bad qualities to melted snow; and from that period to the present times, this prejudice extended to ice had not been quite removed.

[* Hist. of Greenland, b. I. ch, ii. para 11, 12.]

In this circ.u.mnavigation, amidst sleets and falls of snow, fogs, and much moist weather, the _Resolution_ enjoyed nearly the same good state of health she had done in the temperate and torrid zones. It appears only from the journal of the Surgeon, that towards the end of the first course* some of the crew began to complain of the scurvy; but the disease made little progress, except in one who had become early an invalid from another cause. The other disorders were likewise inconsiderable, such as common colds, slight diarrhoeas, and intermittents that readily yielded to the Bark: there were also some fevers of a continued form, but which by timely care never rose to an alarming height. Much commendation is therefore due to the attention and abilities of Mr. PATTEN, the Surgeon of the _Resolution_, for having so well seconded his Captain in the discharge of his duty. For it must be allowed, that in despite of the best regulations and the best provisions, there will always be among a numerous crew, during a long voyage, some casualties more or less productive of sickness; and that unless there be an intelligent medical a.s.sistant on board, many under the wisest Commander will perish, that otherwise might have been saved.

[* Viz. The voyage between the Cape of Good Hope and New Zealand.]

These, Gentlemen, are the reflections I had to lay before you on this interesting subject; and if I have encroached on your time, you will recollect that much of my discourse hath been employed in explaining some things but just mentioned by Captain Cook, and in adding other materials, which I had procured partly from himself, and partly, after his departure, from those intelligent friends he alludes to in his Paper.

This was my plan; which, as I have now executed, you will please to return your thanks to those gentlemen, who, on your account, so cheerfully communicated to me their observations.

As to your acknowledgments to Captain Cook, and your high opinion of his deserts, you will best testify them by the honourable distinction suggested by your Council, in presenting him with this medal: for I need not gather your suffrages, since the attention with which you have favoured me hath abundantly expressed your approbation. My satisfaction therefore had been complete, had he himself been present to receive the honours you now confer upon him. But you are apprized that our brave and indefatigable Brother is at this instant far removed from us, antic.i.p.ating, I may say, your wonted request on these occasions, by continuing his labours for the advancement of Natural Knowledge, and for the honour of this Society: as you may be a.s.sured, that the object of his new enterprize is not less great, perhaps still greater than either of the former.

Allow me then, GENTLEMEN, to deliver this medal, with his unperis.h.i.+ng name engraven upon it, into the hands of one who will be happy to receive that trust, and to know that this respectable Body never more cordially nor more meritoriously bestowed that faithful symbol of their esteem and affection. For if Rome decreed the _Civic Crown_ to him who saved the life of a single citizen, what wreaths are due to that Man, who, having himself saved many, perpetuates in your Transactions the means by which Britain may now, on the most distant voyages, preserve numbers of her intrepid sons, her Mariners; who, braving every danger, have so liberally contributed to the fame, to the opulence, and to the maritime empire, of their Country*.

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