In 1798 he published his memorable work, and afterward removed to London. He died full of fame and honor, in his native place, having-received rewards from the government amounting to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, besides being made an honorary citizen of the city of London. The subsequent wide-spread practice of the method, and the formation of societies for the promotion of vaccination are matters of recent history.
The first vaccinations in the United States were performed by Doctor Waterhouse, Professor of Medicine in Harvard College, in 1800, upon four of his own children. The transmission of humanized virus through the system of the cow, and its subsequent employment in vaccination of human beings, was first practiced by Troja (1747-1827), of Naples, shortly after the introduction of human vaccination; but in 1810 this was prohibited in Italy. Compulsory vaccination was first extensively introduced in Germany in 1807; in England it was first legalized in 1827. The occasional temporary character of the protection thus afforded was first taught by Elsâsser in 1814. Schoenlein was the first to call attention to the distinction between variola and varioloid.
Another matter in which the eighteenth century witnessed great reform was the treatment of the insane, which continued in very bad condition until toward the close of the century, when a movement for improvement began. From and after this lunatics were liberated from their fetters and from the hands of brutal keepers, and regarded as actually ill, while so-called schools of psychiatry were founded. While the first impulse in this direction was given by Lorry, the true reformer was Pinel, already mentioned, who did away with corporeal punishment and abuse, separated the insane from convicts, limited the employment of drugs and especially venesection, placed the unfortunates in special institutions under the charge of physicians, and classified patients according to their symptoms. Yet, in spite of his humane teachings, lunatics were found incarcerated in cages in some of the French cities as late as 1834. Pinel was followed by Esquirol (1772-1840), who in 1818 established the first clinic for mental diseases.
It is well known what a conspicuous part public baths played in the social life of the ancient Greeks and Romans, but the first public resort for sea-bathing was established in Germany in 1794. The cold-water epoch of this century, however, began with the researches of Hahn (16961773), a Silesian, who introduced a systematic and almost exclusive hydrotherapeutic method. The modern method of using cold water as an antipyretic agent was first employed in England, in 1797, by Currie, who originally was an American merchant. In France the method found little sympathy, but it made its way even to Spain later, where it was adopted by the famous Sangrado, who is well known to readers of Gil Blas.
CHAPTER IX.
The Age of Renovation (continued).—The Eighteenth Century; General Considerations. Foundation of Learned Societies, etc. The Royal College of Surgeons, 1800; the Josephinum, 1785.—The Nineteenth Century. Realistic Reaction Against Previous Idealism. Influence of Comte, of Claude Bernard, and of Charles Darwin, 1809-1882. Influence Exerted by Other Sciences.—Theory of Excitement: Roeschlaub.—Stimolo and Contrast imolo: Rasori, 1762-1837.—Homoeopathy: Hahnemann, 1753-1843.—Isop-athy, Electrohomoeopathy of Mattei.—Cranioscopy, or Phrenology: Gall and Spurzheim.—The Physiological Theory: Broussais, 1772-1838.—Paris Pathological School: Cruveilhier, 1791-1873. Andral, 1797-1876. Louis, 17871872. Magendie, 1783-1855. Trousseau, 1801-1866. Claude Bernard, 1813-1878.—British Medicine: Bell and Hall, Travers, 1783-1858.—Germany, School of Natural Philosophy: Johannes Müller, 1801-1858.—School of Natural History: Schônlein, 1763-1874.—New Vienna School: Rokitansky, 1804-1878. Skoda, 1805-1881.
That the eighteenth century, up to its close, was the golden age of medicine, is due to the prevalence during that period of a strong idealistic undertone, as a result of which any learned occupation caused the scholar to be held in higher esteem than is the case even to-day. Medicine was then regarded as a conscientious vocation and not as a mere business or trade; indeed, general scientific knowledge more widely prevailed among the better class of the profession, and there was much less of that one-sided, narrow education that obtains to-day. The profession, moreover, was not overcrowded; physicians were neither too few nor too numerous, consequently their social position was higher. Again, the relations between doctor and patient were more intimate, most practitioners being of the type described as "family physicians," and those possessed of the doctorate degree ranked among the gentry rather than as artisans. They were, for the most part, fully devoted to their calling; moreover, the State took greater care to protect the people, so that it became dangerous for strolling vagabonds and imposters to attempt to trifle with human life and excite the vulgar to the prejudice of scientific knowledge.
The pursuit of anatomical studies was now facilitated, despite the fact that students were frequently compelled to take long journeys in order to obtain the "material" therefor. In the early part of the century so great was the lack of dissecting material that the great Haller while in Paris was compelled to purloin his cadavers, and ultimately, on discovery of this fact, to fly for his life; Hoffmann was only able to make twenty dissections during twenty-four years; even in the middle of the century there was only one dissection annually in Halle; up to 1712 there had been only three dissections in a score of years—though now subjects can be had there in abundance at a ridiculously low figure; cadavers were extremely scarce in Vienna as late as 1765; and for a long time the only places in London where the study of anatomy could be legally pursued were the College of Physicians and the College of Surgeons, and the trouble that hampered John Hunter in this direction is historical. The crime of "Burking" became known in Hunter's day. Murder was committed, and the victim sold for purposes of dissection—for at this time, as "body-snatching" was a necessity, those that purchased cadavers asked few questions, and the fees paid were, of course, high.