'Colony' under a Microscope: The Medical Works of W.M. Haffkine

Abstract

This paper attempts a prosopographical study of an important bacteriologist who made sincere efforts to combat cholera and plague in India through vaccination As an ardent follower of the Pasteurian 'revolution', W.M. Haffkine devoted his life to a series of carefully-controlled and parallel experiments on laboratory animals, and per fected new vaccines. But then, how to transfer laboratory results to actual use for human being? This raised questions relating to the ethics and efficacy of controlled field trials, the reliability of animal models, problems of transference, technical innovations, teamwork, etc. The present paper proposes to analyse the ups and downs in Haffkine's research career in India and through it try to capture the dynamics of medical research and preventive medicine in a colonial setting. In addition, this paper takes into account Haffkine as 'a man of action', his social views, his plague work, his complex relations with the British offi cials in India, and his care and concern for ordinary Indians.