CASE XVI.--Sarah Nelmes, a dairymaid at a farmer's near this
place, was infected with the cow-pox from her master's cows in
May, 1796. She received the infection on a part of her hand which
had been previously in a slight degree injured by a scratch from
a thorn. A large pustulous sore and the usual symptoms
accompanying the disease were produced in consequence. The
pustule was so expressive of the true character of the cow-pox,
as it commonly appears upon the hand, that I have given a
representation of it in the annexed plate. The two small pustules
on the wrists arose also from the application of the virus to
some minute abrasions of the cuticle, but the livid tint, if they
ever had any, was not conspicuous at the time I saw the patient.
The pustule on the forefinger shews the disease in an earlier
stage. It did not actually appear on the hand of this young
woman, but was taken from that of another, and is annexed for the
purpose of representing the malady after it has newly appeared.
CASE XVII.--The more accurately to observe the progress of the
infection I selected a healthy boy, about eight years old, for
the purpose of inoculation for the cow-pox. The matter was taken
from a sore on the hand of a dairymaid [Footnote: From the sore
on the hand of Sarah Nelmes. See the preceding case.], who was
infected by her master's cows, and it was inserted, on the 14th
of May, 1796, into the arm of the boy by means of two superficial
incisions, barely penetrating the cutis, each about half an inch
long.
On the seventh day he complained of uneasiness in the axilla, and
on the ninth he became a little chilly, lost his appetite, and
had a slight headache. During the whole of this day he was
perceptibly indisposed, and spent the night with some degree of
restlessness, but on the day following he was perfectly well.
The appearance of the incisions in their progress to a state of
maturation were much the same as when produced in a similar
manner by variolous matter. The only difference which I perceived
was in the state of the limpid fluid arising from the action of
the virus, which assumed rather a darker hue, and in that of the
efflorescence spreading round the incisions, which had more of an
erysipelatous look than we commonly perceive when variolous
matter has been made use of in the same manner; but the whole
died away (leaving on the inoculated parts scabs and subsequent
eschars) without giving me or my patient the least trouble.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account