Preparations relating to Vitamin C research made by Dr S S Zilva, c.1920

Five specimens and one diagram on card, illustrating attempts to isolate the anti-scorbutic properties of Vitamin C, made by Dr S S Zilva, a member of the scientific staff in the division of nutrition at the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine, London, United Kingdom, c.1920.

These specimens were used to research the efficacy of Vitamin C in preventing scurvy, and were made by Dr S S Zilva, a member of the scientific staff in the division of nutrition at the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine in London, during the 1920s. Zilva was one of the principal investigators in research that led to the production of synthetic Vitamin C. Scurvy is a condition caused by a lack of Vitamin C that can cause bleeding, exhaustion, swelling, and sometimes ulceration of the gums and loss of teeth, commonly associated with sailors on long voyages during 16th to 19th centuries.