A disease caused by deficiency of vitamin C (ascorbic acid – see APPENDIX 5: VITAMINS) rarely seen in developed countries except in people on poor diets, such as vagrants. Ascorbic acid is a water-soluble vitamin derived from citrus fruits, potatoes and green vegetables. Nowadays woody haemorrhagic OEDEMA of the legs is the usual way in which the disease presents. The former classic disease of sailors living on salt beef and biscuits was characterised by bleeding of the gums, loss of teeth, haemorrhage into joints, ANAEMIA, lethargy and DEPRESSION. The introduction of fresh lime juice into the seaman's diet in 1795 eliminated scurvy in the Royal Navy (hence the archaic US slang for the English – ‘Limey’). Vitamin C is curative.