The debate about acclimatization in the Dutch East Indies (1840-1860)

Around the middle of the nineteenth century, conflicting views were put forward on the influence of climate on health and disease in the Dutch East Indies. In this part of the world, old Hippocratic ideas influenced views on the cause of disease much longer than in the Netherlands. Moreover, Brunonian theories--which had been discarded in the Netherlands--fitted the discussion about the effect of temperature on the body. Additionally, scientific medicine was introduced. Scientific methods, such as the collection of meteorological and statistical data, were promoted by a small group of military health officers. However, the use of scientific data did not guarantee a clear-cut opinion on the causes of disease. Numbers proved as disputable as other, less objective, medical observations. Mortality statistics and numbers of patients especially were used as arguments in various discussions. The example of Bosch, who changed his views on the dangers of tropical climate, demonstrates that statistics could be used for different purposes. At first, in his position as General Inspector, he used them as an argument to provide better care for the military personnel; later, when retired and a civilian, he used them as justification for colonization in relation to an intended improvement of the living conditions of the natives. The dangers of tropical climate for the health of Europeans were played down as soon as other--primarily economic--motives for living in the tropics became strong enough.