Science, Constitutional Medicine and National Bodily Identity in Brazilian Biotypology during the 1930s

In Brazil in the 1930s, biotypology was a foundational doctrine for national medicine. Proposing a holistic view of the organism, biotypology was embraced as a medical science that could overcome approaches focused on illness rather than on the sick person. Among its various meanings, biotypology was described as ` the science of the individual'. Its main scientific practices consisted of morphological, physiological and psychological evaluations that were determined through calculations and statistics. Biotypological studies operated beyond the realm of medical practice, informing eugenic, racial and national identity debates in Brazil. Biotypologists created systems for the bodily classification of Brazilians, established patterns of normality, and characterised individuals in biological terms. Yet biotypology also emphasized bodily norms derived from studying the collective to analyse the health of individuals in doctors' clinical practice.