John Woodall

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John Woodall

1556-1643

English physician for the East India Company whose handbook The Surgeon's Mate (1617) provided an extensive overview of the medicines available to a physician at the time. The book, which proved highly popular, also covered a number of conditions the surgeon might encounter, most notably "the scurvy called in Latine Scorbutum." The book noted a number of natural remedies for scurvy, in particular "the Lemmons, Limes, Tamarinds, Oranges, and other choices of good helps from the Indies...."

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