The relative content of antiscorbutic principle in limes and lemons, together with some new facts and some old obsevations concerning the value of "lime juice" in the prevention of scurvy

1. The antiscorbutic value of the juice of fresh limes (Citrus medica, var. acida) has been compared experimentally
with that of fresh lemons (Citrus medica, var. limonum) and has been found to be distinctly inferior. Volume for volume
fresh lime juice possesses a potency of about one-fourth that of lemon juice. In one instance severe scurvy developing in
a monkey on a diet containing a small daily ration (5 c.cm.) of fresh lime juice was cured by an equal ration of fresh
lemon juice.
2. Preserved lime juice was found useless for the prevention of scurvy by the method employed.
Experiments with preserved lemon juice are still in progress, but give promise of better results.
3. The experimental results are fully confirmed by a historical study of "lime juice" in connexion with human
scurvy. At the period when scurvy was eliminated from the British Navy by its agency the term was used to express the
juice of lemons, and it was not until the second half of the nineteenth century that the juice of West Indian limes was
adopted in the Navy and Mercantile Marine. The history of two Arctic expeditions, that of the Investigator, 1850, and
that of the Alert and Discovery, 1875, has been carefully investigated. The former, supplied with lemon juice, experienced
remarkable immunity from scurvy during the first two years of great difficulty and privation; the latter,
supplied with lime juice, suffered severely from scurvy at the end of the first winter spent in the Arctic regions.
It should be noted in connexion with these facts that scurvy is a disease with a long period of development. As
much as four to eight months upon a defective diet may elapse before definite symptoms of scurvy can be observed.