The Story of a Great Delusion in a Series of Matter-of-Fact ChaptersWhite, William
History
The Story of a Great Delusion in a Series of Matter-of-Fact Chapters
White, William
Vaccination
As human nature exists, it was not extraordinary that Jenner should
feel anxious over the occupation of ground he considered his own;
but at the same time it is obvious, that Pearson had done nothing
wrong, nothing that was not allowable, nothing indeed that was not
praiseworthy. He allowed Jenner full credit for having advertised
the Gloucestershire faith in cowpox, and for the production
of certain evidence for that faith; but he set aside Jenner’s
prescription of horsegrease cowpox, and was making use of a form
of cowpox that Jenner had explicitly condemned. Whilst Jenner,
too, had excited curiosity, he did nothing, or could do nothing,
to satisfy it; and it was idle to expect the world to await his
convenience: nor was Pearson the man to rest content where action
was possible. As he said--
From the time of the publication of the _Inquiry_ in June, 1798,
the author contributed no further inoculated cases to the end of
that year; nor could I do more than investigate the history of
the Cowpox principally by inquiries among provincial physicians
and farmers, from whom I was enabled to confirm some of the facts
in Dr. Jenner’s book, and to render doubtful or disprove others,
and to bring to light new observations.[108]
Jenner was not slow to respond to his nephew’s summons to London.
He left Berkeley on the 21st of March, and remained in town until
the 11th of June, visiting medical men, asserting his own claims,
and counter-acting the operations of Pearson and Woodville.
In Dr. Pearson’s circular, it will be observed, that he described
inoculation with cowpox as attended with eruptions in some cases,
which could not be distinguished from smallpox. So far as Pearson
and Woodville were concerned, it was an unfortunate statement, and
gave Jenner an advantage over them which he used unsparingly to
their discredit.
Jenner’s claim for inoculation with cowpox was, that it excited a
fever that was not infectious and was without pustular eruptions;
and here was Dr. Pearson setting up as his critic, and Dr.
Woodville assuming to develop his practice, and producing a
disorder that was indistinguishable from smallpox! Such presumption
and ignorance deserved to be hooted.
What was the explanation? Simply this: that Woodville conducted
some of his cowpox inoculations in the variolous atmosphere of his
Hospital, and that he thereby communicated smallpox and cowpox
simultaneously. In a scientific sense, the experience was valuable;
it proved that it was possible to have cowpox and smallpox at the
same time--that neither disease superseded or nullified the other.
Woodville tried to vindicate himself, and in his failure magnified
Jenner’s triumph still further. Yet he had much that was reasonable
to say for himself. For example, he had transmitted to Jenner some
of the virus from one of the first of his cowpox inoculations in
January, and with it Jenner operated on twenty persons, reporting
to Woodville--
BERKELEY, _February, 1799_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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