The tryal of Mr. Daniel Sutton, for the high crime of preserving the lives of His Majesty's liege subjects, by means of inoculationSutton, Daniel
History
The tryal of Mr. Daniel Sutton, for the high crime of preserving the lives of His Majesty's liege subjects, by means of inoculation
Sutton, Daniel
Smallpox -- Vaccination -- Great Britain -- Early works to 1800; Sutton, Daniel, 1735-1819
The Counsel for the Prisoner then recalled Dr. Baker; who declared,
that preparing persons for inoculation with calomel, and other
purgative medicines, is a common practice; that the success, ascribed
to the Prisoner, is not owing to any peculiar virtue in his medicines,
but chiefly to the free use of cold air; and that this part of his
practice is now very general, and not his own invention.
The next witness was Dr. Kirkpatrick; who testifies, that for many
years past he hath been accustomed to prepare his patients in a manner
very similar to that of the Prisoner at the bar.
Dr. Gale informed you, that he always prepared his patients with
calomel.
Dr. Gatti told you, that he paid little regard to preparation, because
the people in the Levant are successful without it.
Mr. Chandler, who had already been examined by the Counsel against
the Prisoner, being recalled, gives it as his opinion that the
success of this Suttonian practice is owing entirely to the manner of
communicating the infection, which, as it is performed openly, can be
no secret.
The next witness was Dr. Glass, who informed the Court that there is
a certain operator in Somersetshire, who without any preparation at
all hath inoculated seventeen hundred with the loss of two patients
only. Being asked his opinion as to the cause of the success of this
new method, as it is called, he told you, that he believed it to be
principally owing to the exhibition of sudorific medicines during the
eruptive fever.
Dr. Dimsdale deposed, that he hath practised inoculation in a very
extensive manner for twenty years past without the loss of a patient;
that his practice is very similar to that of the Prisoner at the bar;
but that he has often inoculated without any preparation, and with
equal success; and that he ascribes his success chiefly to the cool
regimen, and to his method of communicating the infection with recent
fluid matter.
The last witness called was Mr. Monthly Review, who spoke to the
character of the Rev. Mr. Houlton, on the credit of whose testimony the
fate of the Prisoner at the bar almost entirely depends.
Gentlemen of the jury, having thus briefly summed up the evidence on
both sides, intentionally neglecting to animadvert as I went along, I
shall now endeavour, as far as I am able, to state this complicated
affair in such a manner, as to reduce it to a few simple questions;
and if, after all, it should appear, that what hath been deposed be
insufficient to explain the great mystery, I shall think it my duty,
for the sake of truth, and in justice to the Prisoner at the bar, to
give you as much of my own opinion as may be necessary to lead you to
an equitable determination.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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