Laboratory on the Nile: A History of the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratories (review)

Patrick F. D'Arcy. Laboratory on the Nile: A History of the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratories. Binghamton, N.Y.: Haworth Press, 1999. xv + 281 pp. Ill. $49.95.

The name of Sir Henry Wellcome looms large in the modern history of medicine, and of late, rather than being content merely to enjoy Sir Henry's beneficence to their discipline, historians have begun to study the history of the company he founded with Silas Burroughs and to relate his other ventures. Patrick D'Arcy has produced a detailed account of one relatively little known project that Henry Wellcome supported: the establishment of research laboratories in Khartoum in 1903. D'Arcy was professor of pharmacology at the University of Khartoum in the 1960s, and his affection for the Sudan and his fascination with its history are evident throughout the volume.

After setting the scene with a brief history of the creation of the modern Sudanese state, D'Arcy relates in great detail the work undertaken by the staff of the Wellcome Laboratory, essentially summarizing the six annual reports and reviews produced between 1903 and 1911. The main voice is that of the Laboratory's first director, Andrew Balfour. When Balfour was appointed in 1902 he had published more novels than scientific papers; however, he had the appropriate experience, training, and enthusiasm, and once in post he worked prodigiously across a range of activities. D'Arcy conveys the breadth of his work, and that of his assistants, in accounts of the laboratory and field studies of malaria, kala-azar, and sanitation. In addition, the Laboratory undertook research expeditions, including the work of the floating laboratory; it worked on agriculture and economic products; and it published studies of indigenous culture, including medical practice.

There is a lot of fascinating detail, and D'Arcy whets our appetite to seek out these volumes for ourselves (fortunately, they were widely disseminated at the time and are not difficult to find in research libraries). However, anyone wishing to have the work of the Laboratory situated historically, in terms of either the development of the Sudan or the history of colonial medicine, will need to turn to Heather Bell's excellent study, Frontiers of Medicine in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 1899-1940 (1999). Bell's chapter on the Laboratory draws out important themes that remain implicit in D'Arcy's account--most notably, the tensions between its research and service functions, and the wider position of the Laboratory in the Sudan and in British colonial medicine. That said, D'Arcy does discuss the relationship between the laboratories and sanitation, for Balfour was also Medical Officer of Health for Khartoum, but we hear only one side of the story due to the reliance on a single source.

One feature that D'Arcy brings out well is the eclectic character of the field research, which moved between the determination of the distribution of mosquitoes and the description of religious customs. Balfour, like many scientists who worked in the colonies at this time, continued to be an "explorer" fascinated by alien peoples and their cultures, as much as a "settler" scientist whose investigations were expected to lead to the taming of the hostile environment, and to economic and social development.

The volume contains many illustrations from the annual reports, though the quality of the photographic reproductions leaves a lot to be desired--a situation that is unfortunately becoming quite common as publishers use scanning technologies and abandon superior photographic reproduction methods. Laboratory on the Nile will not be to the taste of historians of medicine who like their subjects contextualized, but it will be enjoyed by those who like a fascinating read and quirky detail.

Michael Worboys
Sheffield Hallam University

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