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
There are perhaps 150 under inoculation at present at Sewell’s
Point, not one of them paupers. They are principally children,
perhaps thirty or forty of them of the first people in the
commonwealth. The charge for the whole process is 8 dollars,
or 36s. sterling, including every expense from incision to
dismission. In some places they inoculate for half that sum. You
must conceive the whole business conducted with a good deal of
gaiety, where a patient, when ill, is as apt to be pitied as if
sea-sick with a sailing party. The established system of mirth
and good humour contributes not a little to the welfare of the
patients.
It is a curious story, and stands in broad contrast to the rough
and ready practice of Turkey, and of many inoculators in England
and elsewhere. Dr. Waterhouse adds--
There were a considerable number of persons in Boston to whom
smallpox could not be communicated by inoculation. In some the
operation was repeated two, three, and four times with fresh
matter. Several of these have had the disease severely since in
the natural way, and some have died of it.
France was slow to accept inoculation. After its introduction in
1723, about thirty years elapsed without any serious movement
in its favour, when Voltaire, Diderot, and their set began to
recommend the practice, which had the merit of being English and
disliked by those who held change and improvement in aversion. La
Condamine read an eloquent paper on the advantages of inoculation
before the Academy of Sciences; and Turgot, the ardent and
sagacious lover of his kind, procured the inoculation of a child
in Paris, 1st April, 1755; which was followed on 14th May by a
young man, named Chastellux, submitting himself to the operation
in the interest of the common welfare. Then Dr. Hosty was sent to
London to investigate and report, and on his return issued these
statements--
1. That out of 463 cases inoculated in the London Hospital, only
one had been unsuccessful; whereas in the Smallpox Hospital
nearly one in four had died.
2. That Mr. Ranby, principal surgeon to his majesty, had
inoculated 1600 persons, and Mr. Bell 903, without the loss of
one.
3. That to form a just comparison between the fatality of
natural and artificial smallpox, it is only necessary to visit
the London Smallpox Hospital and then the Inoculation Hospital:
the difference between the two is so remarkable that the most
incredulous must be convinced.
4. Lastly, with respect to the asserted insemination of other
diseases with inoculated smallpox: no instance of the kind has
ever been produced. Persons have been inoculated with variolous
matter taken from patients afflicted with venereal disease, yet
they have received no infection save that of smallpox only.
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