Descripción
First journal printing of Cook's epoch-making account of the precautions he took against scurvy as prescribed by the Admiralty, during his voyage round the world of 1772-75. This is one of the most significant of all the printed works relating to Cook's voyages and their importance. The paper was read to the Royal Society by its president, Sir John Pringle (in the absence of Cook himself, then just beginning his final voyage), as the year's Copley medal award winner. It was first printed slightly earlier in the same year in Pringle's 'A Discourse upon some late Improvements of the Means for Preserving the Health of Mariners.' "In this paper . . . Cook describes the supplies carried on the voyage and his maintenance of the cleanliness of his ship and crew. These included feeding the sailors with such antiscorbutics as saurkraut, fresh greens and citrus fruits, as suggested by Lind; guarding the sailors from unnecessary exposure and fatigue; and keeping the ship clean, dry and well-aired" (Norman). Cook was one of the few eighteenth-century British naval officers who had a genuine interest in the physical health and well-being of his crews. He was influenced by James Lind's researches into the cause and cure of scurvy, and on his second voyage he deliberately made every effort to ensure that his men received the proper diet, which included citrus fruits and sauerkraut. The winning of the battle against scurvy was one of the most important achievements in the general field of exploration. It made possible the major voyages that followed. As Robert Hughes so aptly put it in 'The Fatal Shore,' "malt juice and pickled cabbage put Europeans in Australia as microchip circuitry would put Americans on the moon." This volume of the Transactions also contains the first printing of Cook's 'Of the Tides in the South Seas,' and William Anderson's 'An Account of Some Poisonous Fish in the South Seas.' Anderson was a surgeon s mate on the Resolution during her second voyage. Also contained within the pages of this volume are contributions by several illustrious scientists, including Cavendish's study of the torpedo, an electric fish (cited in DSB); Priestley's paper defining the role of the blood in respiration (DSB); Ingen-Housz's essay on air and nitrous air (listed in DSB) and John Hunter's paper on resuscitation, cited in 'Resuscitation . . . an Exhibit' (1976). The last copy of Cook's paper to appear at auction was the Norman copy in 1998. Garrison-Morton 3714; Holmes 20 (n), 99, 100, 101; Mitchell Library, Cook, 1288, 3870; Norman 507; Resuscitation . . . an Exhibit 45 (Hunter). 4to, pp. vii, 658, [1], with 7 plates (two plates soiled at fore-edge where they protrude from the edge of the text block). Contemporary calf (worn with loss to head and foot of spine, joints cracked but firm, spine labels chipped). Very good condition internally. N° de ref. del artículo ABE-1607092923252
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