Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Vaccination. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![3^.^ ch*miK^!j^n»i, j)Y ;mead and steeam. 8«pt. a), issi] 595 real or imaginary, pertain to the practice of arm- to-arm vaccination. The calf having done its involuntary service to humanity, is, before dis- missal, again weighed, and is usually found to have increased considerably—not, it may be pre- sumed, in consequence of vaccination, but from the good feeding it has received. The practical results of vaccination from the animal direct, are in some respects some- what dubious. Belgium and Holland have long been familiar with it; but stiU there appears to be a lack of trustworthy records as to the efficacy of the process as compared with the arm-to-arm system. Whether the animal lymph is as potent a protector from smallpox as that which has been passed through the human system, cannot as yet be determined, though there would seem to be no ground for any reasonable doubt upon the subject. That the humanising process does in some way, at present quite inscrutable, affect it, seems evident from the fact that the vaccine from the calf loses its efficacy somewhat sooner than that from the human subject. It cannot be stored for so long a time as the humanised lymph, and this renders its distribution some- what difficult. The best authorities, however, are now inclined to the opinion that the dif- ference in this respect is not after all so great as was at first supposed. The two scientific men in charge of this station are, however, enthusiasts in this department of medical investi- gation, and it may be hoped that with the enlarged sphere of operations which government is understood to be contemplating, and aided by a weU-appointed laboratory in connection with this establishment, an important advance may soon be made in their knowdedge of the subject. Compulsory vaccination has done much in other countries to free them for long periods from this loathsome disease. Sweden and Den- mark enjoyed absolute immunity for twenty years; and in Austria, where very stringent i measures of compulsion are resorted to, they ! succeeded in extirpating smallpox for long periods. It was in 1853 that compulsion was first estab- lished in this country, and as at first nearly every one obeyed the law, it was attended with very ' beneficial results. At the registration of a birth, the registrar has to give notice of the necessity iof having the child vaccinated within four months, and the penalty for neglect. From the registrar’s return, it is seen at the local government Board lif a medical certificate attesting the vaccination I as duly performed, has been returned. Assuming that every child is registered, this system no doubt would answer well; but there is much reason to fear that many children in London escape being registered, and these do not come within the cognisance of the local government Board. It is a question whether some return should not be required from medical men of every child bom alive, with the addi’ess of its parents. Absolute care in vaccination and its universal idoption, combined with a compulsory re-vaccina- tion on arriving at the age of puberty, would 'without doubt have by this time fulfilled JenneFs [most sanguine expectations, and smallpox would jbave become extinct. At the same time, if the government make vaccination compulsory, they have a most important duty to the public to perform. In the first place, they should un- doubtedly ascertain that every known precaution is taken by all public vaccinators to protect from harm, or disease likely to arise from vaccination, those whom they compel to undergo the opera- tion. Secondly, none but properly certified prac- titioners should be appointed to the stations. It is not alone sufficient that they be skilful vac- cinators, they should also be able to take lymph skilfully from the vesicles without the admixture of the minutest particle of blood. An ignorant or careless vaccinator may do more harm than it is possible to trace. Thirdly, no lymph what- ever should be used but that which is micro- scopically examined by one who thoroughly understands his work, and the public should be permitted to have a choice of either the humanised lymph or lymph direct from the calf. If these precautions were conscientiously carried out, we should soon have less objection to compulsion, and we should be in a fair way to seeing smallpox stamped out. In America, according to the Asclepiad, the sxibject has received careful attention. The Keport of Dr Joseph Jones, President of the Board of Health, of the State of Louisiana, extends to four hundred pages, and embraces everything connected with smallpox, vaccination, and spurious vacci- nation ; while drawrings are freely interspersed to illustrate, from point to point, the author’s histories, views, or conclusions. Amongst the general conclusions which the author draws at the close of his treatise, the following are some of the most important: (a) Vaccination, when carefully performed on JenneFs method, is as complete a protection from smallpox now as it was in the early part of the century ; (b) Without vaccination, the application of steam and naviga- tion and land travel would have, during the past fifty years, scattered smallpox in every part of the habitable globe ; (c) Vaccination has not impaired the strength and vigour of the human race, but has added vastly to the sum of human life, happiness, and health; (d) Inoculation for smallpox, which preceded vaccination, induced a comparatively mild and protective disease, but multiplied the foci of contagion, kept smallpox perpetually alive, and increased its fatal ravages among mankind. BY MEAD AND STEEAM. CHAPTER XLVII.—UNDER-CURREXTS. Shield had not been so perfectly frank with Philip PS the latter believed him to be. For instance, he had not mentioned that when Coutts came to him with affected concern on account of the position in which his brother might be placed by the forged bill, he had not admitted to him that the signature was a forgery. What he said to Coutts was : ‘ Looks queer— but don’t know. Accustomed to sign things that come through regular channel without looking close into them. Will see what Hawkins and Jackson have to say about it and let you know.’ Then Coutts took from his pocket a note which had been written to his brother by Austin](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22468602_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
