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.
In context
Also in 1747 (3 other events on record)
- Ahmad Shah Durrani Founds Afghanistan · Middle East · Politics
- Assassination of Nader Shah · Middle East · Politics
- Franklin's Kite Hypothesis · North America · Science
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Science
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.