Ascorbic acid undoubtedly had a very large impact on the world. The lack of vitamin C causes scurvy. Sailors up until about the 18th century were affected severely by scurvy. While on the boats sailors had no access to vitamin C which is commonly found in fruits such as lemons, limes, and oranges. The sailors would be on a strict diet of salted meat and hardtack(very hard crackers). The sailors would begin to feel the affects of scurvy fairly quickly on their long voyages causing typically about 1/2 - 2/3 of the crew dying on their expeditions. They would purposely bring extra crew members because they knew they would die. A man by the name James Lind is credited with curing scurvy. He held the first recorded experiment of cures for scurvy. He took eight men suffering scurvy and dividing them into four groups according to similar symptoms. He gave one group the usual diet of salted meat and hardtack, the second were forced to drink two pitchers of salt water a day, the third were unfortunately given sulfuric acid to drink, the fourth group was given two lemons and an orange a day. The effect of vitamin C was seen almost immediately. Word spread of his experiment and some sailors packed lemons, limes, and oranges. Unfortunately some companies didn't want to spend the extra money so they just simply let their men die. But once almost all expeditions implemented lemons and oranges into the sailors diets scurvy was basically eliminated.