In 1740, Commander George Anson left Portsmouth with seven ships and nearly 2000 men. Three years later less than 600 returned. Only four were killed by the enemy - the rest not being killed by war, weather or misnavigation, but by scurvy. This work is the history of Dr James Lind's efforts to find a cure for this dreaded disease in the face of prejudice and political and establishment antipathy. In the three centuries prior to 1800, it has been estimated that scurvy killed at least two milliom sailors. It was characterized by rotting gums, foetid breath, swelling limbs, malaise and haemorraghing. Desperate men took any cure, including common purging or cupping, urine mouthwashes, ingestion of sulphuric acid, spruce beer or sauerkraut, even burial up to the neck in sand. Most died. In 1747, Lind, a Scottish surgeon who sailed with the Royal Navy, became the first to prove the efficacy of citrus juice in combating the disease. Yet he was unable to penetrate the high-minded disregard of those in authority, or to persuade them to enforce the universal application of fruit. Thousands needlessly died and it was 1795 before the findings were accepted. By this time, James Lind had been dead for a year. Today Lime Juice Cordial from Cadbury-Schweppes is not only enjoyed by ailing sailors, but also by millions worldwide as the world's first ever soft drink.