Medicine at Sea in the 1600s

The manner in which medicine was practiced at sea in the age of sail was much the same as on land. A ship’s doctor had the same range of medications as those used on shore, although some of these, which contained arsenic and mercury, probably did more harm than good. Not surprisingly, medical instruments were the same although the peculiar frequency of amputations at sea, following serious falls from the rigging and injury in battle, caused ship’s surgeons to be nicknamed ‘sawbones’. The other main thing affecting health at sea was the outbreak of diseases such as scarlet fever, cholera, smallpox and typhoid, and scurvy. The outbreak of communicable diseases in the confines of a ship at sea, far from any help on land, led to the many deaths on board. With the origins of disease being poorly understood, the only way of discovering if something such as cholera was present on board ship at the commencement of a voyage, was to isolate the vessel and wait for a set period of time, usually fourteen days. The same procedure was followed at the end of a voyage, to prevent disease being brought ashore. The other killer at sea was scurvy. With people living off salt meat, ship’s biscuits and a few preserved foods, such as dried fruit and fish, vitamin deficiency led to the physical breakdown of a victim’s metabolism and a dreadful, wasting death.

Apothecary jars from the Batavia and Gilt Dragon. 
Credit: WA Museum Collections