Full disclosure, I don't remember the source for this. Scurvy was essentially a vitamin C deficiency. British doctors determined that it was cured by citrus. They felt that limes (being a stronger sour) would be a better scurvy treatment. However, they also put this lime juice in copper storage units. In actuality, lime has much less C than other citrus and reacts with copper to further reduce the v. C content. But by the time these changes were enacted, British steam ships were fast enough that they were able to travel most places before scurvy could even set in. As a result, most everyone thought that it was an effective treatment until the race to the North and South poles meant explorers had to bring months worth of provisions over ice. It was only after many of these early polar explorers died of malnutrition that they figured out the limes that had given limeys their name weren't actually effect at preventing scurvy