I say that small-pox is a pest; it is worse than the plague, for if not kept in subjection it is more general—sparing neither young nor old, rich nor poor, and commits greater ravages than the plague ever did. Small-pox is a disgrace; it is a disgrace to any civilized land, as there is no necessity for its presence: if cow-pox were properly and frequently performed, small-pox would be unknown. Cow-pox is a weapon to conquer small-pox, and to drive it ignominiously from the field. My firm belief then is, that if _every_ person were, _every seven years_, duly and properly vaccinated, small-pox might be utterly exterminated; but as long as there are such lax notions on the subject, and such gross negligence, the disease will always be rampant, for the poison of small-pox never slumbers nor sleeps, but requires the utmost diligence to eradicate it. The great Dr. Jenner, the discoverer of cow-pox as a preventative of small-pox, strongly advocated the absolute necessity of _every_ person being revaccinated once every seven years, or even oftener, if there was an epidemic of small-pox in the neighborhood. 48. _Are you not likely to catch not only the cow-pox, but any other disease that the child has from whom the matter is taken?_ The same objection holds good in cutting for small-pox (inoculation)—only in a tenfold degree—small-pox being such a disgusting complaint. Inoculated small-pox frequently produced and left behind inveterate “breakings-out,” scars, cicatrices, and indentations of the skin, sore eyes, blindness, loss of eyelashes, scrofula, deafness—indeed, a long catalogue of loathsome diseases. A medical man, of course, will be careful to take the cow-pox matter from a healthy child. 49. _Would it not be well to take the matter direct from the cow?_ If a doctor be careful—which, of course, he will be—to take the matter from a healthy child, and from a well-formed vesicle, I consider it better than taking it _direct_ from the cow, for the following reasons: The cow-pox lymph, taken direct from the cow, produces much more violent symptoms than after it has passed through several persons; indeed, in some cases, it has produced effects as severe as cutting for the small-pox; besides, it has caused, in many cases, violent inflammation and even sloughing of the arm. There are also several kinds of _spurious_ cow-pox to which the cow is subject, and which would be likely to be mistaken for the _real_ lymph. Again, if even the _genuine_ matter were not taken from the cow _exactly_ at the proper time, it would be deprived of its protecting power. 50. _At what age do you recommend an infant to be first vaccinated?_