MovieChat Forums > Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951) Discussion > The juice of 40,000 limes

The juice of 40,000 limes

posted 10 years ago by You_Have_Chosen_Wisely
7 replies | jump to latest

Captain Hornblower is listing his needs for reprovisioning his ship. Among them was "the juice of 40,000 limes." Does anyone know what the lime juice was used for?

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Wag more. Bark less.

[–] curlew-2 10 years ago

I was thinking more of how he'd know if he actually received the juice of 40,000 limes. I could hear his quartermaster: "Sir? We only got the juice of 39,917 limes!"

Anyway, to answer your question, the British Navy used lime juice to prevent the onset of scurvy. It's from this that British sailors are traditionally called "limeys".

"I'm not reckless . . . I'm skillful!"

[–] You_Have_Chosen_Wisely 10 years ago

Anyway, to answer your question, the British Navy used lime juice to prevent the onset of scurvy. It's from this that British sailors are traditionally called "limeys".

Thanks.

You responded so quickly. Are you watching this on TCM?

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Wag more. Bark less.

[–] curlew-2 10 years ago

As a matter of fact I was. I usually make a point to watch this film when it's on TCM.

"I'm not reckless . . . I'm skillful!"

[–] paulrrr-32724 8 years ago

BTW Juice of 40k limes= about 312 gallons. 1 lime=1 ounce.

[–] nobboffin-1 10 years ago

Lime Rickeys and margaritas.

[–] Reephaman 8 years ago

Lime juice was a key ingredient in 'grog', the daily ration allocated to sailors in the Royal Navy, introduced by Admiral Vernon in 1740 and sustained as a RN tradition until the 1970s. As others have said, it was to guard against scurvy, which resulted from a deficiency in Vitamin C.

Grog was a mixture of water, rum and lime juice. The inclusion of rum made the medicinal lime juice more palatable to the Jolly Jack Tars.

[–] [deleted] 10 months ago

to prevent scurvy