I have been led to believe that such an attempt may at this time prove of considerable service, in consequence of facts which have lately come under my own observation, and which have induced me to pay more attention than I had previously done to this singularly curious and interesting subject.
The facts to which I allude are—1st. The prevalence of Small Pox to a considerable extent in the town and neighbourhood of Newcastle, by which a number of deaths among children, who had not been vaccinated, has been occasioned.—2dly. The occurrence of the disease in many individuals, who had gone through the process of Vaccination; though in every instance as far as I have been enabled to ascertain, it has been so mitigated in the violence of the attack as to preclude any degree of danger, and has never run the regular course of the genuine Small Pox.—3dly. The impression, which these occurrences have made upon the minds of those in whose families they have taken place,—an impression not only unfavourable to Vaccination, but which has induced some to entertain the idea of again having recourse to inoculation for Small Pox.—And, 4thly. The occurrence of Small Pox itself a second time in an individual, who bore ample marks of having already gone through that disease, which she stated to have taken place naturally when young: this patient was a servant in a family where three instances had occurred after Vaccination, and, as in them, the disease was of a mild and modified character.
In all the cases of Small Pox after Vaccination which I have myself witnessed, or of which I have been enabled to obtain any distinct account, the disease has been of so mild a character, and so curtailed in its duration, that could it have been separated from the terrific name of Small Pox, it would have excited no apprehensions in the minds either of the patients themselves or of those around them. But it unfortunately happens that this disease is associated in our minds with so many terrific accompaniments (which were once indeed its constant attendants and consequences, and which belong to it in its natural form, but which, after the employment of Vaccination, have no existence whatever), that it is difficult for the mind to break through this association, and to feel satisfied that though Small Pox may still appear as an occasional visitor, yet, to the vaccinated, it is completely stripped of all that rendered it dangerous in its attack and serious in its effects.
I have had repeated opportunities lately of pointing out this satisfactory distinction to the parents of children who were affected with Small Pox, both after Vaccination and when no such protecting influence had been employed. The contrast between the characters of the disease, as evinced in these different individuals, was too striking not to carry immediate conviction to the minds of all present; and I believe it has been of considerable service in inducing many to have their children vaccinated, who would otherwise have omitted it altogether. These cases occurred among the lower orders of society; and I feel assured that this demonstrative proof of the utility of Vaccination will do more to remove the prejudices of these people than any abstract reasoning from facts of which they have not themselves been witnesses, however numerous and well authenticated. I should, therefore, strongly recommend it to every practitioner to take advantage of any opportunities that may be afforded him of pointing out this most marked distinction between the natural and modified Small Pox.
CHAP. I.
We shall best estimate the value of any means of removing an evil, by enquiring, in the first place, into the extent of the effects of the evil which it is our object to remove. And we shall also form the most correct estimate of the value of the means which have been employed for its removal entirely, or in part, by reverting to its extent previous to the employment of such means, and comparing the amount of its former ill consequences, with those which are still produced by it.
To satisfy ourselves on the subject of the present enquiry then, it will be useful to put the following queries:—1st. What were the destructive consequences of Small Pox previous to the introduction of Vaccination? And, 2ndly, What influence has Vaccination exerted over these consequences—1. by extensively superseding the cause—and 2. by essentially interfering with the effect?
To answer the former question satisfactorily, it will be necessary to enter, at some length into the history of Small Pox, before Vaccination was proposed as a means of prevention. But it will be remembered, that previous to that era, a means had been already long in use, for the purpose of diminishing, at least, the danger of this terrific disease; and that for half a century the Small Pox had been communicated to thousands annually by inoculation, with the view of accomplishing this very desirable end. This will naturally give rise to a second division of the history of Small Pox. Our first enquiries will therefore be directed to the time antecedent to the use of inoculation for Small Pox, when no artificial measures were adopted for protecting mankind from its fatal attacks.
Although from the vague accounts which earlier European writers have given of the diseases which came under their notice, it is not always easy to distinguish very accurately the precise extent to which Small Pox proved fatal among the nations of Europe, it is yet pretty certain that for a thousand[[2]] years before inoculation was introduced, it was one of the most destructive scourges of the human race, frequently destroying thousands and tens of thousands, in any district where it occurred. It was at this time frequently included under the general term plague or pestilence, which was applied to every destructive epidemic that took place. It is not necessary, however, for my present purpose to go back to these remote ages; for, independent of the impossibility of obtaining sufficiently authentic information whereon to found any accurate argument, it is not to be doubted that the fatality of Small Pox, in common with that of every other disease, would then be materially greater than in the present day, in consequence of the want of cleanliness and ventilation in our cities and houses, and of good medical treatment. It will not be difficult, however, to produce ample proof of the great mortality occasioned by this disease, at a period when these disadvantages were less felt, and when the nature of it was sufficiently certain. For this purpose I have drawn up tables from the bills of mortality of London, comprising a period of 120 years, viz. from 1703 to 1823, which will form the basis of my arguments.