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. 19th century
The surgeon-in-chief of Napoleons army at the Siege of Alexandria (1801), Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey, wrote in his memoirs that 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 Roses lime juice. The Merchant Shipping Act of 1867 required all ships of the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy to provide a daily lime 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 the observation that it cured scurvy, and it was taken on board ships in dried bundles or distilled extracts.
In Ancient Greece, the physician Hippocrates (460-370 BCE) described symptoms of scurvy, specifically 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. Early modern era
In the 13th century, the Crusaders frequently developed scurvy. In the 1497 expedition of Vasco da Gama, the curative effects of citrus fruit were already known and confirmed by Pedro Álvares Cabral and his crew in 1507.The Portuguese planted fruit trees and vegetables in 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 Cabrals fleet bound for India noted that in Malindi, its king offered 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".Unfortunately, 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, the French explorer Jacques Cartier, exploring the St. Lawrence River, used the local natives knowledge to save his men who were dying of scurvy.