Description of scurvy by Echtius (1541)
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In the 16th century, four European authors described the symptoms of scurvy in such a detail that the disease can be recognized as the disease we currently classify as scurvy: Echtius (1541), Olaus Magnus (1555), Ronsseus (1564), and Wierus (1567). Since these four texts are among the early unambiguous descriptions of scurvy, they have substantial historical relevance. All these texts were originally published in Latin. There are English translations of the sections of scurvy from the Olaus Magnus text. James Lind wrote English summaries of the texts of the three other authors. This document gives a brief background and a copy of Lind’s summary of Echtius (1541) text on scurvy.
Authors: Lind, James, Hemilä, Harri
Institution: University of Helsinki
Language: English
Topic: History of Medicine Studies
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7081097035
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: