To the pathology of scurvy

Scurvy has been described as early as the fifteenth century, since the beginning of great sea voyages. Many authors, such as Lind, Kraus, and Immerman, devoted whole works to it. In particular, Immerman gives a most detailed description of this disease, trying to establish the etiology (he considers the cause of scurvy potassium deficiency), its pathology, and treatment. In recent literature we meet again and again the question of scurvy. The dark etiology of the disease has especially attracted attention. However, there is still no unanimous opinion about it: some (Verjuzhsky) incline to the fact that scurvy is an infectious disease, and try, though without success, to find its specific causative agent; others (Efimov) consider the cause of scurvy to be intoxication; still others (Shibkov, Pisunov) state that scurvy is the result of unfavorable sanitary conditions.