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1851, and a further series of 10,661 such cases between the years
1852 and 1867.
Dr. Gayton during the years 1870 to 1883 treated 8,234 cases
of small-pox in vaccinated persons in the hospitals of the Metropolitan
Asylums Board. At Sheffield, in 1887-8, 5,035 vaccinated
persons were attacked by small-pox.
It is, however, superfluous to cite further evidence at this
stage to prove what is no longer denied by anybody, that smallpox
attacks the vaccinated.
No witness who has appeared before us has maintained the
original contention of Jenner and the earlier vaccinators, and the
protection now claimed by those who assert such protection is
relative, not absolute; temporary, and not permanent.
It was at one time alleged that even if vaccination did not
invariably prevent attack by small-pox, yet such attack was
modified, and never severe or fatal. There can, however, be no
doubt that fatal small-pox and cases of the disease in all its
various types of severity occur in persons who have been successfully
vaccinated.
Dr. Gayton's tables include fatal cases, not only in those
stated to be vaccinated but without visible marks, nor only in
those whose marks were considered to be imperfect, but also
amongst those who exhibited at the time of their attack one, two,
three, and four good marks of vaccination. We are not now
concerned with the question of relative mortality in the various
classes, to which we shall return, but these and numerous other
examples suffice to prove what we believe is no longer disputed
by anyone, that severe and fatal small-pox occurs in those who
have been successfully vaccinated. As affecting the kind of
attack, as well as liability to attack, the influence now claimed for
vaccination is a relative one; that is to say, the contention is
that, admitting to the full the occurrence of small-pox, and even