Lind's Scurvy Experiment

May 20, 1747

Aboard HMS Salisbury, Scottish naval surgeon James Lind divided twelve scurvy-stricken sailors into six pairs and tried a different treatment on each: cider, vitriol, vinegar, seawater, barley water, and citrus. The citrus pair recovered in a week. The Royal Navy would take forty years to notice. Scientific clinical trials had a beginning.