The Medical Journal of the Dutch Indies 1852–1942. A Platform for Medical Research

Abstract

Health & History, 2018. 20/1 157 Book Reviews Leo van Bergen, Liesbeth Hesselink, and Jan Peter Verhave, eds, The Medical Journal of the Dutch Indies 1852–1942. A Platform for Medical Research (Jakarta: Indonesian Academy of Sciences, 2017). ISBN: 978-602-61626-3-2. B&W illustrations, figures, and tables. xiv + 442pp. Although the history of medicine in the Dutch Indies is no new topic of scholarly inquiry, interest in this subject has increased over the last decade. Several monographs examining subjects such as the position of Indigenous healers on the medical market, the emergence of a hospital system, Dutch initiatives in combating leprosy, and the entanglements of medical education and Indonesian nationalism have appeared or will appear soon. The Medical Journal of the Dutch Indies 1852–1942 is the outcome of a collaboration between some of the field’s most active contributors including a number of historians and especially physicians, many of whom have experience in tropical medicine. This volume contains no less than twenty-three chapters detailing topics central to the Medical Journal for the Dutch Indies (Geneeskundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indië; hereafter GTNI), the most prominent Dutch medical journal in the Dutch East Indies. Two opinions prompted the making of this book. First, the editors maintain that the GTNI is a rich archive for both medical and colonial historians. Second, access to its contents is restricted to those who happen to read Dutch. Because most of its submissions were written in that language, ‘the data obtained in the Indies [did] not receive the wide attention in the medical world that it deserved’, and the editors seem to suggest, perhaps somewhat resentfully, that this is still the case (p. 7). The volume is divided into two parts. The first six chapters provide an overview of the history of medicine and health care in the Netherlands Indies. Grossly simplified, one could depict Dutch colonialism between 1830 and 1940 as developing from a system of forced production of marketable crops indirectly managed by government officials and a military force (1830–1870). This was followed by a period of economic liberalisation, military expansion, and a subsequent ‘civilisation mission’ administered by a burgeoning colonial bureaucracy (1870–1920), and then by a policy of political repression, economic depression, and administrative decentralisation 158 BOOK REVIEWS (1920–1940). The provision of medical care developed accordingly. For a long time, medical institutions overwhelmingly focused on military needs. Only in 1911 was the Civil Medical Service separated from its military counterpart; it primarily focused on prevention and public hygiene. Charitable hospitals provided curative care. Two chapters examine GTNI contributions by missionaries and Indigenous authors. The number of Indigenous physicians increased from 1900 onwards because the so-called Ethical Policy, inaugurated in 1901, required more medical experts. By and large, these chapters provide a useful introduction to the history of medicine in the Dutch colony. One minor point of criticism is related to the fact that the contents of these chapters somewhat overlap. The remaining chapters focus on particular diseases or medical specialties. Several of these elaborate topics one might expect to find in a volume on colonial or tropical medicine. These include yaws, malaria, beriberi, and hookworm disease. More surprising are the contributions on malaria treatment of general paralysis of the insane, plastic surgery, hernia treatment, trachoma treatment, forensic toxicology, and neurology. Unlike tropical diseases, these latter topics are less frequently discussed in a colonial setting. Other subjects examined are cholera, leprosy, childcare, physical anthropology, anaesthetics, and care of the mentally ill. The authors trace historical developments in GTNI’s content. Before 1920, case studies focused primarily on infectious diseases and beriberi. Thereafter, research was geared towards heart disease, cancer, physiology, intoxication, and obstetrics (p. 8). The quality of these chapters varies. Whereas some authors reproduce the journal’s casuistic structure, others engage more extensively with contemporary medical debates and examine possible connections to colonial policy and ideology. Altogether these chapters present a dazzling range of facts. The reader will probably prefer to consult them separately rather than reading them consecutively. The Medical Journal of the Dutch Indies 1852–1942 is successful in making the history of medicine in the Dutch Indies available to a broader audience. Both students...