Jacobus Bontius (1591–1631) was a Dutch physician, a pioneer of tropical medicine

Tropical medicine

Tropical medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with health problems that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or prove more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions....

. He is known for the four-volume work De medicina Indorum.

Life

He was born in Leiden, son of the physican Gerard Bontius, and brother of Reiner Bontius who was court physician to Maurice of Nassau. Willem Bontius, another brother, was a law professor at the University of Leiden .

Jacobus himself graduated M.D. from Leiden in 1614. He sailed to the East Indies

East Indies

East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...

 with Jan Pieterszoon Coen

Jan Pieterszoon Coen

Jan Pieterszoon Coen was a officer of the Dutch East India Company in the early seventeenth century, holding two terms as its Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies....

, for the Dutch East India Company

Dutch East India Company

The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

.

De medicina Indorum (1642)

The medical observations of Bontius were published after his death. They include what is recognized as the initial medical description of beriberi

Beriberi

Beriberi is a nervous system ailment caused by a thiamine deficiency in the diet. Thiamine is involved in the breakdown of energy molecules such as glucose and is also found on the membranes of neurons...

. He also reported on the dysentery

Dysentery

Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...

 epidemic in Java in 1628. The second edition of 1658, put together by Willem Piso

Willem Piso

Willem Piso was a Dutch physician and naturalist who participated as an expedition doctor in Dutch Brazil from 1637 - 1644, sponsored by Earl Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen and the Dutch West India Company...

, was expanded and included material by Piso on the Americas.