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(D.) As to what means, other than vaccination, can be used for diminishing
the prevalence of Small-Pox; and how far such means could be
relied on in place of vaccination.
Another question upon which we are asked to report is, what
means, other than vaccination, can be used for diminishing the
prevalence of Small-pox; and how far such means could be relied
on in place of vaccination.
The means other than the inoculation of Small-Pox and CowPox,
which have been referred to by witnesses as being capable
of diminishing the prevalence of Small-Pox, are such means as
have been employed against infectious diseases generally; they
may be summarised as—i. Measures directed against infection,
e.g., prompt notification, isolation of the infected, disinfection, &c.,
2. Measures calculated to promote the public health, the prevention
of overcrowding in dwellings or on areas, cleanliness, the removal
of definite insanitary conditions, &c.
It will be well to commence with a brief statement of the
growth of our knowledge on the subject of isolation as a means of
dealing with infectious or contagious diseases. We have already
adverted to the fact that Small-Pox is highly contagious, and that
contagion from those suffering from it is the means by which the
disease is propagated.
Although reference to infection appears in some of the Arabian
writers, the contagiousness of Small-Pox attracted little attention
in this country and in Western Europe until the 18th century.
Sydenham (1624-1689), though he refers to the contagiousness of
Small-Pox, did not dwell upon the matter, and did not regard it
as so important an element in the spread of the disease as some
peculiar constitution of the atmosphere to which he attributed
epidemics. Boerhaave was the first at the commencement of the
18th century distinctly to formulate the now generally accepted
doctrine that Small-Pox arises only from contagion.
In 1720, Mead drew up an elaborate system of notification,
isolation, disinfection, &c., in view of a threatened invasion of the