James Lind, an English physician, proved through his experimentation that citrus fruits like oranges and limes could prevent scurvy, a deadly disease caused by a vitamin C deficiency.

Lind was born on October 4, 1716, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Margaret (Smelum) and James Lind, a prosperous merchant. He attended grammar school in his youth, and then was apprenticed to the Edinburgh physician George Langlands in 1731. He became a surgeon's mate in the British navy in 1739, and in 1747, was promoted to surgeon.

Lind performed one of his most important experiments on curing scurvy in 1747. Many people knew that far more sailors on British warships died from scurvy than from battle. In retrospect, if sailors did not get vitamin C in their food, especially from fruits like oranges, lemons, or limes, then they developed the symptoms of scurvy: bleeding gums, loosened teeth, stiff or swollen joints, and bleeding under the skin. Infections...