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appeared in the daily press. As embodying my views
upon this subject, I append a copy of a letter addressed
by me to " The Times."
To the Editor of " The Times
"Sir,—In The Times of the 19th of January you allowed me to
point out a ready means of isolation for preventing the spread of small
pox in the northern half of the metropolis amongst persons above the
pauper class. Perhaps you can find space for a few remarks regarding
the means to be employed for protecting the community from that
disease. I refer, of course, to vaccination and re-vaccination. From
the information afforded by the Registrar-General's Weekly Returns of
the causes of death, it may be fairly said that for some years vaccination
has been on its trial. Jenner claimed for his discovery "the annihilation
of small pox." Between the years 1798 and 1803 its value was
tested upon thousands of persons, who, after vaccination, were subjected
to inoculation with the virus of small pox, and subsequently, in very
many instances, to the further ordeal of sharing the beds of those who
were suffering from the disease.
" Woodville, at the Small Pox Hospital, repeated Jenner's experiments
and endorsed his views. Medical men, with few exceptions, have
everywhere adopted them. As a matter of fact, however, during the 28
years—1847-74 inclusive—144,042 persons died from small pox in England
and Wales. Of these, many thousands were said to have been
vaccinated, more were unvaccinated, and of the remainder the medical
certificates gave no information as to vaccination. The question then
occurs, Has vaccination proved a failure ? Or, why this difference
between promise and fulfilment ? Or, whence these discrepant results ?
The answer to-day must be the same as that recorded 20 years ago by
Marson, Simon, and other authorities :—Vaccination has often been
inefficiently and insufficiently performed. The means which were
employed were inadequate to the end which was desired.
"As to inefficiency.—In many cases of so-called successful vaccination,
cow-pox, which the operation was intended to produce, and which
Jenner recommended as a substitute for or a preventive of small pox,
has never really occurred. The correctness of this statement has been
shown both by the vesicles which followed the operation and by the
subsequent cicatrices, neither of them presenting the required appearances.
There are vesicles and vesicles. Those from a primary are very