Medical comforts during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration
ABSTRACT In the literature of the exploration of the Antarctic in the early 20th century, there are many references to ‘medical comforts’. While ‘medical comforts’ was sometimes used as a euphemism for alcoholic beverages, the term, which originated in the army, covered all foods and drinks used for...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2012
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247411000799 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247411000799 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247411000799 2024-09-15T17:45:01+00:00 Medical comforts during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration Guly, H. R. 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247411000799 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247411000799 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ Polar Record volume 49, issue 2, page 110-117 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 journal-article 2012 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247411000799 2024-09-04T04:02:26Z ABSTRACT In the literature of the exploration of the Antarctic in the early 20th century, there are many references to ‘medical comforts’. While ‘medical comforts’ was sometimes used as a euphemism for alcoholic beverages, the term, which originated in the army, covered all foods and drinks used for the treatment and prevention of illness and during convalescence. This article describes the use of medical comforts during the Antarctic expeditions of the so called ‘heroic age’. Apart from alcohol, medical comforts included beef extracts, milk extracts and arrowroot. These products were extensively advertised to the medical and nursing professions and to the general public and the Antarctic connection was sometimes used in the advertising. The products were largely devoid of vitamins and their use may have contributed to some of the disease that occurred on these expeditions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Polar Record Cambridge University Press Polar Record 49 2 110 117 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
ABSTRACT In the literature of the exploration of the Antarctic in the early 20th century, there are many references to ‘medical comforts’. While ‘medical comforts’ was sometimes used as a euphemism for alcoholic beverages, the term, which originated in the army, covered all foods and drinks used for the treatment and prevention of illness and during convalescence. This article describes the use of medical comforts during the Antarctic expeditions of the so called ‘heroic age’. Apart from alcohol, medical comforts included beef extracts, milk extracts and arrowroot. These products were extensively advertised to the medical and nursing professions and to the general public and the Antarctic connection was sometimes used in the advertising. The products were largely devoid of vitamins and their use may have contributed to some of the disease that occurred on these expeditions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Guly, H. R. |
spellingShingle |
Guly, H. R. Medical comforts during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration |
author_facet |
Guly, H. R. |
author_sort |
Guly, H. R. |
title |
Medical comforts during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration |
title_short |
Medical comforts during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration |
title_full |
Medical comforts during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration |
title_fullStr |
Medical comforts during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration |
title_full_unstemmed |
Medical comforts during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration |
title_sort |
medical comforts during the heroic age of antarctic exploration |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247411000799 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247411000799 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Polar Record |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Polar Record |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 49, issue 2, page 110-117 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247411000799 |
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Polar Record |
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49 |
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2 |
container_start_page |
110 |
op_container_end_page |
117 |
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1810492716178472960 |