Abstract
In the 1870s and 1880s, British physician Patrick Manson conducted a series of parasitological research experiments at the treaty port of Amoy in southern China. He discovered that the mosquito is the intermediate host of the human filarial worm. This scientific breakthrough forged a new research direction for parasitology and had a profound impact on the development of tropical medicine as a field of specialty. In this paper, I investigate the scientific practices which Manson employed in his filarial research, analyzing the research methods as well as the social and material technologies which he used. I also examine the role played by Chinese assistants in his research. I discuss the ways Manson trained and utilized his Chinese assistants, and argue that he relied on his assistants to procure ample amounts of research material and observational data which enabled him to enlarge the scale of his research and eventually led to his discovery of filarial periodicity. Using the study of Manson’s filarial research as a basis for discussion, I argue that the successful analysis of parasites under the microscope depends not only on the researcher’s ability to make astute visual observations but also on the implementation of a series of scientific practices.
Keywords
tropical medicine, parasitology, technology, skill, assistants
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