[14] Life of John Hunter, prefixed to the treatise on the Blood, Inflammation, &c.
[15] Medical Times and Gazette, March 3, 1877.
[16] Medical Times and Gazette, Feb. 17, 1877.
[CHAPTER VI.]
EDWARD JENNER AND VACCINATION.
Modern preventive medicine may be said to date from the introduction of inoculation for smallpox in the early part of the eighteenth century. It is much more profitable to dwell on the history of the second step in this direction, a far greater one, due to the genius of one man, Edward Jenner, whose Life by Dr. Baron, though not a biographical masterpiece, is the source of much valuable information.
The name of Stephen Jenner had been handed down from generation to generation in Gloucestershire, and the Rev. Stephen Jenner, father of Edward, was vicar of Berkeley when his famous son was born, on May 17, 1749. The father, however, died in 1754, and an elder son, another Stephen Jenner, Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, is credited with some attention to his education. But his school life was not prolonged, for about the thirteenth year of his age he commenced preparation for a medical career by entering upon apprenticeship to Mr. Daniel Ludlow, a medical practitioner at Sodbury near Bristol, with whom he remained six years.
Young Edward, when a fine ruddy boy of eight, was, with many others, put under a preparatory process for inoculation for smallpox. This was indeed a formidable proceeding, lasting six weeks. He was first bled, to ascertain whether his blood was “fine;” was then purged repeatedly till the ruddy youth became emaciated and feeble; and all the while was kept on a low diet, and dosed with some drink which was supposed to sweeten the blood. This is appropriately termed a “barbarism of human veterinary practice,” but it was followed by exposure to contagion from others in a state of severe disease. By good luck the boy got off with a mild attack; but we may well ascribe to the lowering preparatory treatment he had undergone, that he never could as a child enjoy sleep, and was constantly haunted by imaginary noises. All his life long he was too acutely alive to these impressions and to any sudden jar.
It is perhaps more interesting, it is certainly more important, to notice the influence exerted upon one mind by another, than to examine the influences of any material objects upon human nature. In this light we may view with pleasure the relations which existed between Jenner, his elder brother already mentioned, and the great anatomist, John Hunter. The ties of affection and esteem must have been strong which drew the young doctor from the attractions of London, from constant association with his admired friend in his studies, from opportunities to inquire such as those afforded by the arrangement of Sir Joseph Banks’s collection made during Captain Cook’s celebrated voyage, from prospects of gain and worldly advancement, to the retirement of a country village, the isolation and the simplicity of rural existence. We can hardly overestimate the benefits derived by the developing mind of the young doctor from his daily intercourse for two years with such a preceptor as John Hunter. The impression was mutual, for we find Hunter years afterwards writing to Jenner, “I do not know any one I would sooner write to than you: I do not know anybody I am so much obliged to.” A correspondence full of interest on subjects of natural history was kept up between them. Hunter’s appreciation of his friend’s attainments was shown markedly when he formed the plan of a school of natural history and human and comparative anatomy, and asked Jenner to come and be his partner in the undertaking. Very many particulars of experiments and inquiries in natural history by Jenner were communicated to Hunter, and were of essential service to him. His most important published paper in natural history was that on the Cuckoo, published in the “Philosophical Transactions” for 1788.
Jenner’s name has been so exclusively connected in the popular mind with the subject of vaccination, that his ability as a practitioner and his originality in many departments of medicine and surgery have been somewhat lost sight of. No doubt this was much aided by his own modesty; but in the treatment of many diseases his views, founded on the improved anatomy and physiology he had learned from Hunter and his own acute observation, were far in advance of his time.
It was perhaps, however, by his sympathetic qualities of heart that Jenner most of all obtained and maintained the influence which he possessed. He could truly rejoice with those that rejoiced, and weep with those that wept. In him uncommon delicacy of feeling co-existed with a joyous and lively disposition; and his gentlemanly manners made him welcome everywhere. He was ever observant of natural phenomena, and loved nothing better than to persuade some friend to ride with him during his long journeys through the countryside. Those who enjoyed the pleasure have described the vivid and imaginative fervour which characterised his conversation, whether in reference to his own feelings or the beauties of the scenery around, and the captivating simplicity and ingenuity with which he explained phenomena of animal and vegetable life which came under notice. In fact he never met any one without endeavouring to gain or to impart instruction.