On the arm of a person who had gone through the cow-pox many
years before I once produced a vesication by the insertion of
variolous matter, and, with a little of the fluid, inoculated a
young woman who had a mild, but very efficacious, smallpox in
consequence, although no constitutional effect was produced on
the patient from whom the matter was taken. The following
communication from Mr. Fewster affords a still clearer
elucidation of this fact. Mr. Fewster says: "On the 3d of April,
1797, I inoculated Master H--, aged fourteen months, for the
smallpox. At the usual time he sickened, had a plentiful
eruption, particularly on his face, and got well. His nursemaid,
aged twenty-four, had many years before gone through the
smallpox, in the natural way, which was evident from her being
much pitted with it. She had used the child to sleep on her left
arm, with her left cheek in contact with his face, and during his
inoculation he had mostly slept in that manner. About a week
after the child got well she (the nurse) desired me to look at
her face, which she said was very painful. There was a plentiful
eruption on the left cheek, BUT NOT ON ANY OTHER PART OF THE
BODY, which went on to maturation.
"On enquiry I found that three days before the appearance of the
eruption she was taken with slight chilly fits, pain in her head
and limbs, and some fever. On the appearance of the eruption
these pains went off, and now, the second day of the eruption,
she complains of a little sore throat. Whether the above symptoms
are the effects of the smallpox or a recent cold I do not know.
On the fifth day of the eruption I charged a lancet from two of
the pustules, and on the next day I inoculated two children, one
two years, the other four months old, with the matter. At the
same time I inoculated the mother and eldest sister with
variolous matter taken from Master H--. On the fifth day of their
inoculation ALL their arms were inflamed alike; and on the eighth
day the eldest of those inoculated from the nurse sickened, and
the youngest on the eleventh. They had both a plentiful eruption,
from which I inoculated several others, who had the disease very
favourably. The mother and the other child sickened about the
same time, and likewise had a plentiful eruption.
"Soon after, a man in the village sickened with the smallpox and
had a confluent kind. To be convinced that the children had had
the disease effectually I took them to his house and inoculated
them in both arms with matter taken from him, but without
effect."
These are not brought forward as uncommon occurrences, but as
exemplifications of the human system's susceptibility of the
variolous contagion, although it has been previously sensible of
its action.
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