VITAMIN • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Vitamin

... the colony throughout the century, and probably had acute manifestations during the Starving Time of 1609-10. The colonists during the early years at Jamestown often boiled their limited rations in a common kettle, thus destroying what little valuable vitamin content the food may have had; eggs, vegetables, and fruits which would have countered the disease were not available. The swellings and the deaths without obvious cause described by the early commentators may have resulted from beriberi (the disease ...

— Medicine in Virginia, 1607-1699 • Thomas P. Hughes