James Lind (1716-1794) was born and educated in Edinburgh. He was apprenticed to a surgeon when he was 15, and spent nine years as a naval surgeon, during which time he saw many cases of scurvy, a disease that disabled and often killed sailors on long ocean voyages. Lind thought this disease might be caused by a diet lacking fresh fruit and vegetables. He conducted an experiment, giving different diets to each of several pairs of sailors. This was, in fact, the first clinical trial ever conducted – although the sample sizes were very small, there was no random allocation, and no informed consent was obtained from the sailors. The two sailors who received fresh oranges and lemons recovered rapidly from the scurvy, the others did not.