THE ACCLBIATIZATION OF THE WHITE RACE IN 



THE TKOriCS' 



Bv RouratT I)K ('. Wai:i) 



The acclimatization of (he white race in the Tr()i)ics is a question 

 which is hir^el}' medical in many of its aspects. I wish to make it 

 clear that I write wholly as a layman in so far as the medical side 

 of ni}' topic is concerned. The subject, however, also very distinctly 

 concerns the climatolo^nst. It is from the cliinatolo<iical, rather than 

 from the medical, side that I propose to treat it. The problem is one 

 the solution of which — if there be a solution — requires the close 

 cooperation of medical men and of cIimatolo<^ists. The study of the 

 physiolofpcal effects of tropical climates, and of tropical diseases, is 

 the responsibility of the medical man. On the other hand, it is the 

 business of the climatologist to set forth, in the greatest possible de- 

 tail, all the characteristics of tropical climates, and, if the picture is 

 not sufficiently complete or satisfactory for the purposes of the 

 physician, to take steps to make it more so. While much work, and 

 very excellent work, has been done by investigators of many national- 

 ities, in many parts of the Tropics, there still remain great gaps in our 

 knowledge which must be tilled before our conclusions can be consid- 

 ered wholly sound, or final. 



To my own thinking, there are few more interesting problems 

 awaiting study on the part of medical investigators than those that 

 relate to the physiological effects of tropical climates on white men 

 and women, and especially on children. Such studies should by no 

 means be limited .sim]:)ly to the ordinary physical changes in the body. 

 They should especially be extended to cover the nervous system and 

 the mental effects. Incomplete as our present knowledge of tliis prob- 

 lem is, it is neverthele.ss possible for us to present certain fairly well 

 ascertained facts. It is these that I wish to consider, always remem- 

 bering that the future may very considerably change our present 

 views, and that many phases of the acclimatization problem arc very 

 recent. The attention of the medical profession has naturally and 



* A lecture Kivrn nt tho Lowell Instltuto, Roston. The writer Ih Indebted to Dr. HIcIinrd 

 P. .Sfronn for liis kindness In rending; the manuscript of this lecture, nnd for his helpful 

 suRRrstlona. Keprintnl liy pfriniHsion from flic New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 

 201, No. 13, pp. (J17-027, Sept. 20. 1029. 



557 



