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46
England. It is such facts as these that constitute
the basis of the belief of the people of England in
the advantages of vaccination, and upon which our
legislators have founded their legislation. The
evidence in favour of the conclusion that vaccination
when properly performed, controls and arrests
small pox as a disease, is probably more conclusive
and extensive than in any similar case of generalization
amongst the organic sciences. It is useless
to argue with or to talk to persons who have made
up their minds to oppose vaccination, without any
desire of arriving at the truth; but it is of the
utmost importance that everybody should know how
great a truth is involved in the statement that
vaccination prevents small pox.
A second objection to vaccination is that it is
injurious. This was an early objection to the
practice, and Dr. Jenner himself had to shew
its futility. It was urged that as cow pox was
derived from the cow it was not proper to introduce
the disease into the human system. At the same
time cow pox had been known to be communicable
to man for centuries before Jenner had made his
discovery of its preventing the small pox. This
objection has been again brought forward, but with
less success, seeing that there is not a tittle of
evidence to shew that any other form of disease can