This Day in History: 1767-07-17

Devonshire Cider mystery solved Sir George Baker, a British physician, publishes Essay on the Cause of the Endemical Colic of Devonshire during the summer of 1767, revealing that the cause of the colic (stomach pain) was the use of metallic lead in cider processing machinery.   The mysterious illness was called the “Devonshire Colic” and was well known in the Devonshire – Cornwall region of southwest England. The colic was first officially described by a local doctor in 1703, investigated by another doctor in 1738, and finally uncovered by Baker between September 1762 and July 1767, when Baker treated 300 serious cases of colic at local hospitals. Baker also consulted with American scientist Benjamin Franklin who apparently mentioned that the symptoms of the colic were very similar to lead poisoning experienced by printers. Baker’s detective work led him to Devonshire’s apple cider mills and he found that, unlike cider presses in other regions, the Devonshire presses were lined with sheets of lead. This would have been enough to convince most people of a public health hazard, but the cider press owners fought back. Their spokesmen, Rev. Thomas Alcock, claiming that lead was harmless and that Baker was not trustworthy. Looking back on the incident in the 1880s, one medical historian noted that Alcock “obviously wrote in the interests of the cider makers, and indulged in the most gloomy forebodings.” Baker went on to investigate lead poisoning from food and occupational sources and was knighted for his public health efforts. Twenty years later, Franklin wrote in his famous letter on lead poisoning: The Opinion of this mischievous Effect from Lead, is at least above Sixty Years old; and you will observe with Concern how long a useful Truth may be known, and exist, before it is generally receiv’d and practis’d on.