Lind, founder of naval hygiene in England, wrote a classic treatise on scurvy, in which he described many important experiments he made on the disease. These experiments have been called “the first deliberately planned controlled therapeutic trial ever undertaken”. Lind showed that in preserved form citrus juices could be carried for long periods on board ship, and that, if administered properly, they would prevent the disease. The application of this knowledge by naval surgeons who followed Lind led to the eventual elimination of the disease from the British Navy. Reprinted, with notes, Edinburgh, 1953.