The history of inoculation and vaccination for the prevention and treatment of disease : lecture memoranda, Canadian Medical Association, London, Ontario, 1913 / [forward by] Henry S. Wellcome.

Burroughs Wellcome & Company

Date:: [1913?]

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: The history of inoculation and vaccination for the prevention and treatment of disease : lecture memoranda, Canadian Medical Association, London, Ontario, 1913 / [forward by] Henry S. Wellcome. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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$1 N nC r I. A I-1 CI X AND V A C'C 1 N AMI (1 N Man-h, ilct'iM-riiit; it until thf\- h:\\c consiiU-n'tl the stall' of tlu- season, and ac(|niic'tl in foiinat ion ol tin.' state ol' the clistenijH'i-. ••'riu' inhabitants ol' ]^LMii;al, knowin,;; the nsnal when the inocnlatiuK Brahmins annually return, observe strictlv the re-imen enjoined, whether they delerniinc to be'inoculated or not; this preparation consists only in abstainin.i; for a month from fish, milk, and .s^hce (a kind of butter made -enerally of ^^^^^^^.^ buffalo's milk); the prohibition of fish regimen rc-fers onlv to the natix'e PortURuese and ['^^P.Y^.u'.^on Mohanunedans who abound in every province of the empire. When the Brahmins be^in to inoculate, they pass from house to house and operate at the door, refnsin.^' to inoculate any who have not, on a strict serutin\-. duly observed the preparatory course enjoined them. •■ It is no imcommon thing for them to ask the parents how man\- pocks they chuse their children should ha\ e. \'anitv, we should think, urged a question on a matter seeminglv so uncertain in the issue; but true it is that they harclK- ever exceed or are deficient in the number re(|uired. ••They inoculate indifferently on any part; but, if left to their choice, they prefer the out.side of the arm, midway between the w rist and the elbow for the males; and the same between the elbow and the shoulder for the females. Previous to the operation, the operator takes a piece of cloth in his hand (which becomes his per(|uisite if the family is opulent), and with it gi\es a dry friction upon the part intended for inoculation for the space of ei'dit or ten minutes, about the ' ? ., , . , , • Method of compass of a silver groat, just making jnoeuiaoon the smallest ajjpearance of blood; then f)pening a linen double rag (which he alw.ays keeps in a cloth lound his waist), he takes from thence a small pledget of cotton charged with the variolous matter, which he moistens with two or three di ojjs of the flanges$