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Death By Cider How the Devonshire Colic shaped
the future of Lead Poisoning Rick Elliott, HONR
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Ciders Place in the History of Devonshire
A New Theory Emerges James Hardy
George Baker and the Lead Hypothesis
Devon County, a mostly rural area in Southwest
England, served as home to one of the most
intriguing public health cases in history. The
area, unofficially referred to as Devonshire, at
one point was very involved in the production of
cider. Known as Devons traditional drink, the
making of cider was well documented in Devons
history dating back to the 13th century.
According to one account, dated 1285 A.D., the
region produced so much cider, it served as a
regular source of revenue for the county. As
England came out of the Middle Ages, orchards
expanded and apple production increased,
resulting in even greater cider production. Used
commonly on naval expeditions, Devons cider was
extremely
Being a native of Devonshire, George Baker had
obvious reasons to investigate this terrible
influx of Colic that struck Devon each year. Born
in 1722, Baker was educated at Eton and Kings
College, Cambridge, receiving his M.D. in 1756. A
Fellow of the Royal Society, one of Englands
most prestigious honors for a man of science,
Baker was also elected a Fellow of the College of
Physicians. In 1761, he moved to London to become
physician to the Queens household. He first
presented his paper on the Devonshire Colic
When James Hardy wrote on the Devonshire Colic in
1778, he was in support of George Bakers
original claim that the epidemic was caused by
lead poisoning. His goal, however, was to prove
that the lead came not from lead-lined presses
used in cider-making, but lead glazed earthenware
jugs and pitchers, used to store the drink.
Experiments made by Thomas Percival, another
English scientist,
effective at fighting scurvy, one of the most
daunting diseases facing sailors embarking on a
long naval voyage. More easily made than beer and
cheaper to produce than wine, cider was even
believed to help improve overall health in the
county of Devon. All former ideas concerning
Devons cider, however, were drastically changed
when the drink was linked to a colic epidemic,
which broke out in the county in the early 18th
century. The events that followed resulted in one
of the earliest and most severe backlashes
against lead and its poisonous grip on mankind.
to the College of Physicians in 1767. Baker
claimed that the Devonshire Colic was not in fact
some disease caused by the intake of highly
acidic fruits, but was actually caused by lead
poisoning. He noted that the worst outbreaks of
colic were located in close proximity to Devon
Countys centers of cider production. He
disproved Huxhams theory, since there was no
possible way the acidity of fruit could be linked
to lead. He argued does the experience of
jockeys, who in order to reduce themselves to a
certain standard of weight by sweating, are said
to drink largely of vinegar, strengthen such an
observation? Do we find it true that children and
valetudinary people, and particularly chlorotic
girls, whose primae viae abound with acid, are on
that account subject to this colic?² Since he
believed the colic was caused by lead, but there
was no way the cider, itself, actually contained
lead, the next question Baker had to answer was
how is the cider contaminated? He began to
consider the cider-making process in Devon.
Through his research, he discovered something
described by Caspar Newman in his 1749 work, The
Chemical Works. The large circular trough, in
which the apples are ground, is generally
composed of several pieces of moor-stones,
cramped together with iron, some melted lead
being poured into the interstices. Equipped with
this information on the cider-making process,
Baker sought out to test his new hypothesis.
inclined Hardy to believe that there was in fact
lead used in the glazes of English earthenware.
In order to test this new hypothesis, Hardy
conducted experiments of his own. He filled 25
glazed earthenware vessels with cider and various
other liquids. Some he boiled in the earthenware,
and other he let stand for a duration of time. To
test each individual liquids uptake of lead,
Hardy used a test solution of orpiment and
quick-lime in water. If lead were present in the
liquid when the test solution was added, the lead
would precipitate out of the solution in the form
of lead sulphide. Sure enough, these tests
concluded that Devons cider did become heavily
contaminated with lead when stored in glazed
earthenware containers.
Glazed Earthenware and Lead
The fact that glazed earthenware products were
commonly used by residents of Devonshire, only
helps prove Hardys theory more. It also helps
solve some of the more unique aspects of the
epidemic. Why were the rich less affected than
the poor? Because they stored their cider in
glass and stone vessels instead of earthenware.
Why were only some families
The Epidemic
Perhaps the best description of the colic
epidemic in Devon comes from John Huxham, a
Fellow of the Royal Society, who wrote his tract
on the disease, Opusculum de morbo colico
Damnoniorum, in 1738. Huxhams tract on the
disease focused on its outbreak in 1724, which
was especially widespread and deadly. The primary
symptom was terrible stomach pain, the trademark
symptom of colic. This, along with a weak pulse
and cold sweats, was the first symptom often
experienced. Next, the tongue would be covered
with a thick layer of mucus and the diseased
person would begin extended, violent vomiting.
The vomit was heavily laden with phlegm and
mucus. Its consistency was thick and acidic, and
sometimes even bloody, as a result of the
esophagus and throat being damaged by the
terrible vomiting. The disease culminated with
severe muscular aches and bone pains. In some
cases, paralysis set in, and in even rarer cases,
death. Luckily for doctors and scientists of the
time, the Devonshire Colic showed certain
discernible patterns. For example, it seemed to
strike every autumn. Also, it seemed to affect
certain families more than others. While these
two qualities could provide insight into cause
and communicability of the disease, one
mysterious facet of the Devonshire Colic was that
it seemed to affect the lower class more than the
rich. Intrigued by these things, many doctors
sought out to determine the cause of this
epidemic.
Bakers Experiment Devastating Simplicity
In order to prove his hypothesis, Baker procured
a sample of cider made by using a lead-lined
press. He needed to prove that the use of lead in
the cider-making process actually resulted in the
cider containing a dangerous level of lead. Baker
soaked several sheets of clean paper with his
sample of cider from a lead-lined press. He
soaked other sheets with various other liquids,
including juice made not from a lead-lined press
and wine. Next, Baker exposed these sheets, each
soaked with a different liquid, to the fumes of a
volatile tincture of sulphur. Knowing that a
substantial amount of lead coming into contact
with these fumes would result in the sheet
turning a very dark color, when this actually
happened in his experiment, he knew his
hypothesis had been proven and that the
Devonshire Colic was actually caused by lead
poisoning.
Because their particular earthenware jugs may
have been made using more lead than their
neighbors. Further tests concluded that as much
as 1 oz. of lead ore was used in each quart of
glaze. Waves of potters and glazemakers from
continental Europe began moving to England from
1650-1689. The influx of German and Dutch glaze
technology advanced further in England, resulting
in the very popular style of glazed earthenware
called Queensware. By bringing glaze
technologies into England, however, these
artisans also brought lead, as seen tragically
with the epidemic of the Devonshire Colic.
Historical Significance
The Devonshire Colic epidemic has great
significance for many reasons. On a scientific
level, it spurred its time periods greatest
minds to search for a cure. The work of men like
John Huxham, George Baker, and James Hardy is
significant because it represents one of the
first times in epidemiology when the scientific
method and an organized set of experiments were
used to solve a case. Purely on a public health
level, their work helped identify a major threat
to humanity, leads presence in glazed
earthenware, and then extinguish it. Lead use has
continued for decades past the Devonshire Colic,
however this singular event still represents one
of the many important steps taken against lead
and the dangers it presents to mankind.
John Huxham and the Cider Hypothesis
The first correlation between the Devonshire
Colic and cider drinking was made by the English
doctor, William Musgrave, who in 1707 wrote that
the colic "only infests those that make use of
that liquor, and in the same proportion as they
make use of it so that in those times when cider
abounds it increases and becomes very common on
the other hand when Pomona withholds her bounty
it is observed more rarely.¹ John Huxham
expanded upon this original argument in his tract
on the Devonshire Colic in 1738. In 1724, when
the epidemic was especially widespread across the
county, Huxham noted that Devons apple
production had far exceeded any prior years
crop. This year, Devonians, he claimed, consumed
more apples and cider than in years past, and the
increased acidity intake caused such a bad
outbreak of colic. He related the epidemic to the
colic of Poitou, which was virtually the same
disease and had broken out in the early 1600s. A
heavy wine producing and drinking area, Huxham
claimed Poitous epidemic was likewise a result
of the high acidity in grapes and their juices.
Supported by Musgrave and Huxham, two very
well-respected physicians, this theory would
stand until George Bakers work on the Devonshire
Colic was published in 1767.
Opposition to Bakers Theory
George Bakers experiments were met with
criticism from many different areas. The same
year Baker delivered his Devonshire Colic paper
to the College of Physicians, a pamphlet was
anonymously written and published claiming that
only one cider pound in Devon actually contained
lead, far less than Baker had claimed. Another
argument against Bakers work was made by fellow
English physician, Francis Geach, whose pamphlet,
Some observations on Dr. Bakers essay on the
endemial colic of Devonshire, supported John
Huxhams previous claim that the colic was a
result of highly acidic fruits. Bakers
experiments proved that if the cider were exposed
to lead, it could become contaminated enough to
cause the colic epidemic. However in light of the
opposition, one question remained where did the
lead come from?
References
¹ http//www.devon.gov.uk/localstudies/100676/1.ht
ml ² McConaghey, R.M.S., Sir George Baker and the
Devonshire Colic Medical History, 1967
October McConaghey, R.M.S., Epidemiology in
Devon British Medical Journal, 1957
November 30 Meiklejohn, Andrew, The Mill Reek and
the Devonshire Colic British Journal of
Industrial Medicine, 1954 January Rosen, George,
The Endemial Colic of Devonshire An Essay
Concerning its Cause American Journal of
Public Health, 1959 January Waldron, H.A., James
Hardy and the Devonshire Colic Medical
History, 1969 January