Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: sauerkraut

  • Cabbage, kraut, and sauerkraut

    Scurvy is an ancient disease mentioned in the writings of Hippocrates and Pliny.1 It became particularly prevalent in the early days of the long exploring voyages, the Age of Sail, when an estimated two million sailors are believed to have died from it, more fatalities at sea than all other diseases, battles, storms, disasters, and…

  • “Plague of the Sea, and the Spoyle of Mariners”—A brief history of fermented cabbage as antiscorbutic

    Richard de Grijs Sydney, Australia   Germans eating sauerkraut. Hand-colored etching by James Gillray (1756–1815), published 7 May 1803. (© National Portrait Gallery, London: NPG D12809; CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) “. . . those affected have skin as black as ink, ulcers, difficult respiration, rictus of the limbs, teeth falling out and, perhaps most revolting of…