An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae / A Disease Discovered in Some of the Western Counties of England, Particularly Gloucestershire, and Known by the Name of the Cow Pox

PRICE 7s. 6d.
BY EDWARD JENNER, M.D. F.R.S. &c.
—QUID NOBIS CERTIUS IPSIS SENSIBUS ESSE POTEST, QUO VERA AC FALSA NOTEMUS.
LUCRETIUS.
London: PRINTED, FOR THE AUTHOR, BY SAMPSON LOW, N°. 7, BERWICK STREET, SOHO: AND SOLD BY LAW, AVE-MARIA LANE; AND MURRAY AND HIGHLEY, FLEET STREET.
1798.
My dear friend ,
In the present age of scientific investigation, it is remarkable that a disease of so peculiar a nature as the Cow Pox, which has appeared in this and some of the neighbouring counties for such a series of years, should so long have escaped particular attention. Finding the prevailing notions on the subject, both among men of our profession and others, extremely vague and indeterminate, and conceiving that facts might appear at once both curious and useful, I have instituted as strict an inquiry into the causes and effects of this singular malady as local circumstances would admit.
The following pages are the result, which, from motives of the most affectionate regard, are dedicated to you, by
Your sincere Friend, EDWARD JENNER.
Berkeley, Gloucestershire, June 21st, 1798.
The deviation of Man from the state in which he was originally placed by Nature seems to have proved to him a prolific source of Diseases. From the love of splendour, from the indulgences of luxury, and from his fondness for amusement, he has familiarised himself with a great number of animals, which may not originally have been intended for his associates.