DAILY MISCELLANY

SCIENCE QUESTION

Citrus fruit does not grow in the Arctic, so how do the Inuit Eskimos avoid scurvy? Earlier this century, Vilhjalmur Stefansson argued that it was possible for people of European stock to live for long periods on a traditional and entirely carnivorous Inuit diet, and that many Arctic explorers had developed scurvy (caused by lack of vitamin C) because they would not follow the Inuit and trust their instinct and experience.

He and a colleague volunteered to subsist on nothing but meat, under medical supervision in New York, for one year starting in February 1928. They each consumed between 100gm and 140gm of protein a day, with the remaining calories coming from fat. Both men remained in good health and showed no sign of scurvy.

It has been estimated that a traditional, daily Inuit diet, even without any plant material, would contain 40mg of vitamin C, enough to avoid scurvy. But some flora – including rose hips, a good source of the vitamin – grow in areas where the Inuit live.

WORD OF THE DAY

popinjay [pop-in-jey]

A vain or conceited, foppish, excessively talkative person

“I was laughing at myself, uncle.” “At yourself, sir?” “Yes, I was thinking what a popinjay I should look in a cocked hat.” (George Manville Fenn, ‘Syd Belton’, 1891)

Today’s word suggested by Kerry Larbalestier from Ipplepen near Newton Abbot, Devon, who adds that popinjay is “apposite at the moment given the strutting of our politicians for our votes”. You can send suggestions for word of the day by clicking the link below