tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post1797230652472766627..comments2024-01-23T08:36:56.787-08:00Comments on Erebus & Terror Files: My paper concerning the lead in the Franklin expedition remains.Peter Carneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-16899230419728531672016-09-26T14:33:28.237-07:002016-09-26T14:33:28.237-07:00Thanks for your comments Solomon.
It is a valid s...Thanks for your comments Solomon.<br /><br />It is a valid suggestion that the relative frequency of the serving of canned provisions on the Jeannette vs the Franklin expedition may be relevant but it would seem more significant that lead is known to be dissolved by mild acids such as tomato juice but is essentially untouched in the neutral environment of canned meat.<br /><br />All of the historical cases of lead poisoning from canned provisions that I know about resulted from tomatoes, other fruit, or vegetables deliberately packed in an acidic solution.<br /><br />If the victualling manifests are in error and canned tomatoes, or similar, were actually taken on the Franklin expedition it would also require that the normal practice of rationing was abandoned so that some would get six times more lead in their bones than their shipmates and that they washed their hair in the juice to get levels of lead in their hair many times greater than victims of malicious poisoning.<br /><br />A simpler explanation would be that the lead was in the water and Goldner is innocent.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />PeterPeter Carneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7460851571985771047.post-90737250781740256742016-09-17T15:28:31.006-07:002016-09-17T15:28:31.006-07:00Good, interesting paper , touching on various poss...Good, interesting paper , touching on various possible sources.<br /><br />A later episode of lead poisoning occurred aboard the USS JEANNETTE, ca 1879-1880 while that ship was near Siberia. The culprit was the lead soldering on the cans of tomatoes, which were served daily. What struck me was the frequency of serving the tomatoes which made the lead poisoning occur within a year or two. <br /><br />With the Franklin expedition, it may well have been the same...depending on how often Goldner's deadly cans were served and how soon into the voyage they were served. On Beechey Island, 700 empty food cans were left behind, filled with pebbles and made into a cairn. And that was just a year or two into the expedition. Soloman Grundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06972686779984782545noreply@blogger.com