I noted these observations, and constantly related them, when on the subject of Smallpox, in every course of lectures which I have given since that time. (P. 5.)
The communication of Jenner to Hunter was nothing of a discovery. There was no secret in the existence of Cowpox, nor in the belief that inoculation therewith fortified the sufferer against Smallpox. Dr. Pulteney, of Blandford, informed Pearson that—
Cowpox is well known in Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Somersetshire, and Devonshire. It is not unknown in Leicestershire, and other midland counties; but dairymen keep it a secret as much as possible, as it is disreputable to the cleanliness of their produce. (P. 8.)
In the northern counties and in Wales, Cowpox was either rarely seen or unknown. In Cheshire, as much of a dairy county as Gloucestershire, where also men acted as milkers, the disease was never met with. Where, however, Cowpox was recognised, the faith in its efficacy against Smallpox appeared to be general, and inoculators regarded it as a bar to their success. Thus Mr. Giffard, surgeon, Gillingham, wrote to Pearson, 9th August, 1798—
Cowpox is more known in Dorsetshire than in most counties. Last winter I inoculated three parishes, and some of the subjects told me they had had the Cowpox, and that they should not take the Smallpox; but I desired to inoculate them, and did so two or three times, but without effect. Persons never take the Smallpox after they have had the Cowpox. (P. 14.)
At a milk-farm on the Hampstead Road, Pearson found a man who had often seen Cowpox in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. He said that—
He had known many who had had Cowpox, and they never suffered from the Smallpox, although it prevailed in their own families. To use his own words, they who have had the Cowpox “are hard to take the Smallpox.” (P. 29.)
Mr. Rolph, surgeon, Peckham, who had practised in Gloucestershire, informed Pearson that—
Cowpox was very frequently epizootic in the dairy-farms in the spring.... A great number of instances of the Cowpox in milkers had fallen under his observation, but not a single mortal, or even dangerous, case occurred. There was not a medical man in Gloucestershire, or scarce a dairy-farmer, who did not know from his own experience, or that of others, that those who have suffered the Cowpox are exempt from the agency of the variolous poison. (P. 95.)