Pioneer Medical Reformer. Sir Gilbert Blane, 1st Baronet has been recognized as the Scottish physician, who initiated hygiene and medical reforms in the Royal Navy, which included providing sailors with citrus fruits for vitamin C to prevent scurvy on long voyages. The sailors, who were issued a ration of lime or lemon juice, earned the nickname as "Limeys." Born the fourth son of Gilbert Blane and his wife Agnes McFadzen, he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and received his medical degree on August 28, 1778 from the University of Glasgow. After relocating to London, he eventually became the personal physician of Lord Rodney aboard the "HMS Sandwich", which sailed to the West Indies in 1779. In 1780, he published a small book, "On the most effectual means for preserving the Health of Seamen, particularly in the Royal Navy." He saw action against both the French and Spanish fleets, and later served as a Commissioner on the Sick and Wounded Board of the Admiralty. He served as Physician in Ordinary to King George IV and William IV. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1784. By virtue of these court and hospital appointments, he built up a good practice for himself in London, and the government constantly consulted him on questions of public hygiene. He married Elizabeth Gardner on July 11, 1786 and the couple was the parents of five sons and three daughters, not all reaching adulthood. Part of his reforms was the Quarantine Act of 1799, which regulated contagious fevers in prisons as well as British ships returning from foreign countries and introducing the deadly plague to British ports. Eventually, the Emperor of Russia, the King of Prussia and the President of the United States sought his advice and acknowledged his services. In 1809 he provided expert medical advice with regards to the Walcheren expedition, which involved a British occupation of Walcheren Island with 40,000 men. Located near what is today the Netherlands, the island was surrounded by marshland and many troops were struck down with "Walcheren Fever," most likely malaria, which had an extremely high mortality rate. The General Staff heeded Blane's advice that the occupying forces should be evacuated due to the likelihood of sickness. In reward for his services to the Walcheren expedition and his other Naval contributions, he was made Baronet of Blanefield in the County of Ayr on December 26, 1812. He was succeeded in the title by his third son, Hugh Seymour Blane, as his two older sons had predeceased him. Besides being a Fellow of the Royal Society, he was a member of the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians. At these societies, he gave lectures with suggestions for much-needed medical reforms. In honor of his accomplishments, the Gilbert Bland Medal was established in 1803 with perpetual funding and alternately awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal College of Physicians, upon the recommendation of the Medical Director General, to worthy candidates.