The Laboratory and Clinic: The Debate over Clinical Trials in Bombay, 1897–1908

Abstract At the end of the nineteenth century, bubonic plague broke out in Bombay (Mumbai), and the European powers were terrified that it would spread to Europe. Many scientists and doctors from around the world were sent to Bombay to conduct research and trials on potential cures for the plague. For decades, scholars have examined the intersection of the laboratory and clinic and debated whether or not science and medicine clashed during the bacteriological revolution. While many historians now argue that there was no inherent conflict between the two approaches, they neglect the laboratory and clinic in the colonies. In this paper, I examine two case studies demonstrating the fluidity of laboratory and clinic boundaries. Yet, the intersection of the two also brought conflict over how to conduct clinical trials with laboratory-produced serums. During this period, the clinic remained paramount in Great Britain, but was subordinated to the laboratory in colonial Bombay.