Mr. Elbert Hubbard on vaccination : a critical examination : a special article / [Kenneth W. Millican].
- Millican, Kenneth William, 1853-1915.
- Date:
- [1907]
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Mr. Elbert Hubbard on vaccination : a critical examination : a special article / [Kenneth W. Millican]. 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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![But suppose Mr. Hubbard proves his minor, that ‘‘Some [recently successfully] vaccina- ted persons have smallpox,” logically we can only affirm therefrom that vaccination does not confer immunity in all cases. Would he assert as a corollary that in that event it is useless? Let us see where that would lead us. Vaccination claims to prevent smallpox but does not prevent it completely, universally, and in- fallibly. But a measure that claims to prevent anything but does not prevent it completely, univer- sally, and infallibly, is useless. Therefore vaccination is useless. If that is sound reasoning, then so are the following: Sanitation is a measure that claims to prevent dis- ease (even smallpox according to Mr. Hub- bard.) But sanitation does not prevent disease complete- ly, universally, and infallibly. Therefore sanitation is useless, Or again: ,, The block system is a measure that claims to pre- vent accidents on railroads. But (just at this present time we are having al- most daily evidence that) it does not prevent them completely, universally, and infallibly. Therefore the block system is useless. Now, the block system depends for its effi- cacy on one or more of three factors, the work- ing of the signal, the compliance of the en- gineer, and the response of the brakes. If we try to explain that a certain accident occurring upon a railroad equipped with the block system was due, not to the uselessness of the block system, but to the fact that the signal “was not](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2247982x_0052.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
