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has not been epidemic. If it is borne in mind that the vaccine disease is really
Small Pox modified by transmission through a lower animal, it need not occasion
surprise that, at a season when an unusual susceptibility to Small Pox exists,
there is also an unusual susceptibility to the vaccine disease.
Nothing is known of the conditions which induce such epidemics as these;
we know only that, in the course of time, there shows itself in different places a
tendency in certain diseases to attack large numbers of people, and the cases of
these diseases assume a more severe form than is usual at other times. In the
case of some maladies, we do not know how epidemics can be warded off; in the
case of others, it is known that certain precautionary measures will either prevent
the occurrence of an epidemic, or very much mitigate its severity. Thus
Cholera may be kept in abeyance by attention to drainage, and the use of pure
water. Typhus Fever may be kept in check by the precaution of overcrowding,
and a sufficient supply of food; whilst epidemics of Small Pox may be still
more effectually prevented than either of the preceding diseases, by the general
adoption of vaccination judiciously and carefully performed.
When no epidemic prevails, there is a disregard of precautionary sanitary
measures, and it seems almost impossible for people to be convinced of the value
of such precautions, except by the occurrence of fatal epidemics. When Small
Pox is not prevalent, vaccination is neglected; there had been a growing
neglect of vaccination in St. Pancras from 1860 to 1862. In the year which
ended September 29th 1862, of 6692 children born, only 2854 were vaccinated
by the parish vaccinators; whereas, with a smaller number of births, the
average number of parochial vaccinations in 1858-59 was 3561.
In the year which ended September 29th, 1863, the number of registered
births was 7269; the number successfully vaccinated by the parish vaccinators
was increased, owing to the prevalence of Small Pox, to 10,259, of whom 3357
were children under one year of age, and 6902 were above that age, a large proportion
of them having been previously vaccinated. It must be remembered, in
judging of the proportion of children vaccinated in St. Pancras, that, besides
parochial vaccinators and private practitioners who vaccinate, there are two
national vaccine stations, where a large number of vaccinations are performed;
in 1862, at Tottenham Court Chapel Station, there were 1329 vaccinations, and
at Russell Place 518. The number last year was no doubt much larger than
the number in 1862, in consequence of public attention being forcibly directed
to the subject. A very large proportion of those vaccinated at these stations
are no doubt parishioners of St. Pancras.
Some persons have been led, by the recent prevalence of Small Pox, to doubt
whether vaccination is of much value as a preservation against its invasion.
A careful examination of the evidence on this subject will lead to absolute
conviction, that just in proportion to the thoroughness and prevalence of vaccination
is the immunity of any population from Small Pox greater or less.
Before the introduction of vaccination, Small Pox was one of the most fearful
scourges to which humanity was liable, destroying entire populations; for instance,
at one period, in Mexico, it struck down 3½ millions of people, leaving none to
bury them; in Greenland it proved fatal to two-thirds of the community; its annual
ravages in Europe were estimated at half a million; and in France, a tenth of
all the deaths came from Small Pox. It had no respect for royalty any more
than for the poor; in the circle of William III., for instance, it was fatal to his
father, mother, and wife, to his uncle and two cousins, and he himself suffered
most severely, having his constitution permanently impaired by it.
During the year 1863, there were in all London, 2012 deaths, whilst