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14
receives from scientific men. They know the operation has
obtained the sanction of Parliament, and its general adoption
has been rendered compulsory by a series of legislative acts.
But on the other hand they have heard of a protest raised by
a body of men both in and out of Parliament. A body,
although insignificant in size, one which acquires no little
importance from the perseverance of its members, and from
the energy displayed in the dissemination of its doctrines.
The anti-vaccinationists have had the satisfaction of making
themselves heard. They have also succeeded in unsettling
the minds of not a few people, who, unacquainted with the
history of the operation and the nature of the disease which
called it into being, are influenced by arguments they have
not the means to controvert, and figures the accuracy of
which they are not in a position to dispute.
The enquiry instituted by the Local Government Board
during the recent epidemic of small pox at Sheffield supplies
in its published record a wealth of material bearing upon this
question of the value of vaccination. From this source, during
the course of this Report and in pursuance of my present
object, I shall largely draw, in order that I may bring to the
notice of those who care to be informed evidence of the
most accurate and conclusive character.
During the year 1796 vaccination was introduced by
Edward Jenner. In the days of bad roads and stage
coaches communication between distant places was difficult.
News travelled slowly. New modes of treatment were received
by an ignorant and prejudiced public with distrust. Yet
before the first decade of the nineteenth century had closed,
vaccination was practised in every important city in Europe
and America, and the name of Jenner had become a household
word throughout the civilized world. In the history of discovery
nothing is recorded, either before or after, which