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(B.) As to the objections made to vaccination on the ground of injurious
effects alleged to result therefrom; and the nature and extent of any
injurions effects which do, in fact, so result.
We proceed to address ourselves now to another subject
submitted to us, viz., "the objections made to vaccination on the
ground of injurious effects alleged to result therefrom; and the
nature and extent of any injurious effects which do, in fact, so
result."
This is obviously a matter of great importance. Not only
has the utility of vaccination been denied, but it has been asserted
that mischievous effects have been due to it, resulting in personal
injury and in the loss of life. If the practice has been productive
of substantial benefit in limiting the ravages of Small-Pox, and
mitigating the severity of the disease, the fact that vaccination
may lead in certain cases to personal injury or death, would, of
course, not be a conclusive argument against its use. Danger of
personal injury, and even of death, attends many of the most
common incidents of life, but experience has shown the risk to be
so small that it is every day disregarded. A railway journey or a
walk in the streets of any large town certainly involves such
risks, but they are not deemed serious enough to induce anyone
to refrain from that mode of travelling or from frequenting the
public streets. And to come within the region of therapeutics, it
cannot be denied that a risk attaches in every case where chloroform
is administered; it is nevertheless constantly resorted to,
where the only object is to escape temporary pain. The admission,
therefore, that some risk attaches to the operation of vaccination,
an admission which must without hesitation be made, does not
necessarily afford an argument of any cogency against the practice,
if its consequences be on the whole beneficial and important, the
risk may be so small that it is reasonable to disregard it. Everything
depends, then, upon the extent and character of the risk.
Those who have assailed vaccination on the ground of the