William Stark (physician)

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William Stark (1741–1770) was an English physician and medical pioneer who investigated scurvy by experimenting on himself with fatal consequences. Born in Birmingham to Scottish parents, he studied medicine at the University of Leiden, obtaining his degree in 1769. He began his study of scurvy in London, June 1769, with a series of dietary experiments on himself. After eight months of experimenting, he died on February 23, 1770, at the age of twenty-nine. His legacy was not a breakthrough discovery but his detailed record keeping indicated the importance of vitamin C to later researchers. James Carmichael Smyth published Stark's experiments eighteen years after his death.

Stark devised a series of 24 dietary experiments in an effort to prove that a "pleasant and varied diet was as healthful as simpler strict diets". He kept accurate measures of temperature and weather conditions, the weights of all food and water he consumed, and the weight of all daily excretions. Stark also recorded how he felt on a daily basis.

His experiment started with a basic diet of bread and water with a little sugar for thirty-one days. He became 'dull and listless' so ate better until he recovered. He resumed experimenting by adding various foods, one at a time - olive oil, milk, roast goose, boiled beef, fat, figs, and veal. After two months, his gums were red and swollen, and they bled when pressure was applied, a symptom of scurvy.

By November 1769 he was living on nothing but pudding, albeit with black currants to celebrate Boxing Day. He had considered testing fresh fruits and vegetables but was still working through tests with honey puddings and Cheshire cheese when he died in February 1770.