La relazione sanitaria e l’attività scientifica di Filippo Rho, medico a bordo della pirocorvetta Caracciolo durante la circumnavigazione del globo (1881-1884)

Abstract

The presence of numerous Italian colonies in South America in the second half of the 19th century and the political and social instability in those countries had led our government to send warships in those waters. It was up to the Caracciolo pyrocorvette to reach the Pacific in 1882 where the war between Chile, Bolivia and Peru was underway. The unit will then travel around the world during almost three years. They will encounter difficulties and unexpected events but also exciting moments. The ship’s commander Carlo De Amezaga will write four volumes on the mission which contain, among other things, an extensive health report written by the on-board doctor Filippo Rho. The experience was useful in enriching knowledge of tropical diseases, later described in Filippo Rho’s great treatise on Prevalent Diseases in Hot and Temperate Countries.