Arthur Stanley Wohlmann, the first government balneologist in New Zealand.

INTRODUCTION Geologically, New Zealand lies along the intersection of two of the earth's major plates and therefore earthquakes, volcanoes, and hot springs are widespread. The original inhabitants, the Maori, were aware of the therapeutic value of hot-pools and, as Europeans settled on the islands in the nineteenth century, many travellers commented circumstantially on the potential of the pools, both therapeutically and for extending tourism. Eventually, in 1902, the New Zealand government created a new national medical appointment, to be held in a new department, that of Tourist and Health Resorts, a title that indicated the two major projects that its establishment was to encourage. The post was given the title of Government Balneologist and the activities of the first holder, Arthur Stanley Wohlmann, provide the basis for this account, which also discusses his approach to therapy compared with that of similar physicians practising in Britain. The clinical applications of water, hydrotherapy, or balneology' as it was sometimes called, receives little attention at present among those trained in the medical traditions of Western Europe although clinicians in Eastern Block countries continue to advise its use.2 Spas that had been developed around mineral springs believed to have healing powers are now largely neglected in Britain, Germany, and France, countries which had many such establishments during the nineteenth century.3 A similar pattern occurred in New Zealand, though the developments took place rather later; the subject of this article is part of that story.4