Etiology time, and often lacked fresh fruit and vegetables. Without knowing the precise cause, Captain James Cook suspected scurvy was caused by the lack of vegetables in the diet. Based on his suspicion, he forced his crew to eat sauerkraut, a cabbage preparation, every day, and based upon the positive outcomes, he inferred that it prevented scurvy, even though he did not know precisely why. It took about another two hundred years to discover the precise etiology: the lack of vitamin C in a sailor's diet. An etiological myth, or origin myth, is a myth intended to explain the origins of
John Cunningham (explorer) John Cunningham (explorer) John Cunningham (c. 1575-1651), known in Danish as Hans Køning, was a Scottish explorer who became a captain in the Danish navy in 1603. In 1605, he was captain of the 60-ton Danish naval ship ' (German: "Consolation"), which was probably named after one of the queen's dogs. The ship, along with the 70-ton ' ("Lion") or ' ("The Red Lion") and the 20-ton ' ("Cat"), was directed by King Christian IV to reëstablish contact with the Norse settlements in Greenland, the first of three annual expeditions sent between 1605 and 1607. Cunningham served as the chief