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. ----- Footnote 2: According to Mr. Moore, (History of Small Pox, p. 66-7) the Small Pox was first introduced into Europe during the invasion of Spain by the Saracens, in the commencement of the eighth century: after which, the infection rapidly spread into France and other countries. ----- Mr. Moore, in his History of Small Pox, (p. 243) tells us that “Dr. Jurin took the lead in replying to the opponents of this practice (inoculation for Small Pox): and being a calm man, well skilled in calculation, his writings were composed with great good sense and good temper. He drew his arguments chiefly from an accurate examination of the London bills of mortality for forty-two years, and from accounts collected from a few large cities: and he compared the numbers who died of the Small Pox with the general mortality. From all which he concluded, “That of all the children that are born there will, some time or other, die of the Small Pox, _one in fourteen_.” And “that of persons of all ages, taken ill of the natural Small Pox, there will die of that distemper _one in five or six_.” In other countries this disease appears to have been yet more fatal than in England. I shall, however, revert to the documents which I have myself collected on the subject.