"Did Toxic Rum Kill These 19th Century British Soldiers?" Topic

"During the French Revolutionary Wars in the late 18th century, the British military was deployed to take over French possessions in the West Indies, and another West Indies campaign from 1804-1810 during the Napoleonic Wars saw the British military taking over the Caribbean. These campaigns were not without casualties. Tens of thousands of British soldiers succumbed to yellow fever, while others fell victim to heavy metal poisoning. A recent analysis of skeletons from the Royal Naval Hospital cemetery in Antigua provides some much-needed clues to the cause of poisoning.

Exposure to lead in the colonial period is well-known historically. Lead is a useful metal; it's easy to work and durable, and it was used to make pipes, to line water containers, for cooking utensils and pots, as ammunition, and even as cosmetics and flavoring. But lead is, of course, toxic and causes major problems with the nervous system. In order to investigate the extent of lead use in the colonial West Indies, a group of researchers led by bioarchaeologist Tamara Varney of Lakehead University examined 31 people found in the Royal Naval Hospital in English Harbor, Antigua…"
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Amicalement
Armand

The least of their problems I would have thought – lead poisoning is pretty slow acting – yellow fever on the other hand…

Yes… you are right… but the workd they did was good.

Amicalement
Armand