Abstract
This short historical note dates the earliest ethnomedical reference to koro back to the 1840s (about a half-century earlier than universally presumed), and the earliest ethnopsychiatric reference to 1883 (over a decade earlier than universally presumed)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aldridge, E.A. (1883). Report on the health of Hoihow for the year ended 31st March 1883. In Imperial Maritime Customs II. Special Series No. 2. Medical reports for the half year ended 31st March 1883. 25th issue (pp. 10-17). Shanghai: Statistical Department of the Inspectorate General.
Blonk, J. C. (1895). Koro. Geneeskundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indië, 35, 562–563.
Matthes, B. F. (1859). Makassaarsch-Hollandsch woordenboek. Het Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap.
Matthes, B. F. (1874). Boegineesch-Hollandsch woordenboek. M. Nijhoff.
Schmidtmüller, C. W. M. (1849a). Briefe über Celebes. Vierter Brief [cont’d]. Das Ausland, 22(51), 202–204.
Schmidtmüller, C. W. M. (1849b). Der Standpunkt der Arzeneikunde auf der Insel Celebes. Aus Briefen des holländischen Arztes Dr. Schmidtmüller. Zeitschrift für die gesammte Medicin (Hamburg), 41, 78–84.
Schmidtmüller, J. (1856). [Necrology: Dr. Carl Schmidtmüller]. Ärztliches Intelligenz-Blatt, 3(30), 368–369.
Van Brero, P. C. J. (1896). Naar aanleiding van het opstel over ‘koro’ van den heer J. C. Blonk in de vorige aflevering van dit tijdschrift. Geneeskundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indië, 36, 48–54.
Voustman, A. H. (1897). “Koro” in de westerafdeeling van Borneo. Geneeskundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indië, 37, 499–505.
Funding
None received.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Single author researched and wrote all.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing Interests
None to declare.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Janssen, D.F. Koro (Genital Retraction): Early Mention in 1849 by Carl Wilhelm Maurus Schmidtmüller and Early Psychiatric Verdict in 1883 by E.A. Aldridge. Cult Med Psychiatry 49, 392–395 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-024-09895-z
Accepted:
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-024-09895-z