Vinegar ‘cure’ for seasick passengers

More alarming treatments were also used, such as draining blood from a patient to clear impurities from the body, it was revealed in the Royal Navy Medical Journals 1817-1857, published by family history website Ancestry.co.uk.

Other unusual remedies included the use of toxic chemical 
mercury in an attempt to kill bacteria.

One patient on board the ship General Palmer in 1848 who was suffering from syphilis is recorded as being “treated with mercury ’till her mouth was sore”.

Three passengers on the Brampton in 1822 who were reported to have caught pneumonia were treated by being “bled” and given laxatives. The records report they made a full recovery.