During the XIX century, medicine went through several etiological postulate changes. Medical geography, the discipline closely tied to the interests of the European colonialist enterprise, was in charge of mapping the diseases occurring all over the world. The physicians in European navies were in charge of this important mission. The greatest enemy of European troops and residents, in the colonies and in the hot climate regions were known to be the so-called tropical diseases. In this article, we analyze the official travel account by Bourel-Roncière, a French physician responsible for healthcare on the ship La Circé, from 1868 to 1870. Special attention is given to his personal point of view concerning the diseases and respective treatments, which he studied in collaboration with Brazilian physicians.
history of medicine; station navale du Brésil et de la Plata; French expeditions; medical geography