APPENDIX B.
Report on Vaseline Vaccine by Surgeon-Major BAMBER, I.M.S., Civil Surgeon, Ráwalpindi.
The present method of vaccination is by taking lymph directly from the buffalo-
calf. The drawbacks to this are the large number of calves required, and the delay of
six days caused from the date of inoculation to the date on which the vesicles are ready.
The villagers object to their buffalo-calves being inoculated, and then being taken about;
another disadvantage is that people do not like seeing the lymph being taken from the
buffalo-calf, not a particularly inviting looking object. This is especially felt by the
Hindús.
Some years ago vaccination with preserved lymph was introduced into Germany.
Since then it has been carried out in India both in Mysore and Bengal.
The substances used to preserve the lymph have been glycerine and lanoline.
Glycerine is used in Berlin and lanoline in Bengal and Mysore.
The reason that vaseline has been introduced by the writer as the preservative, is
that it is a mineral substance, which does not decompose, and is therefore preferable to
glycerine or lanoline, both of which are animal substances. The latter point would
especially affect the susceptibilities of the Hindús. White vaseline which is used in the
preparation of vaseline vaccine by the author is refined from ordinary yellow vaseline,
it is odourless, does not turn rancid and melts at the body temperature. In Bactereology
vaseline is used to prevent evaporation in humid chambers under the microscope. It
acts in the same way when mixed with particles of any animal substance.
After having thought of vaseline, the question to be settled was whether it would
have a deleterious effect on the lymph or whether it would preserve the lymph for some
length of time of unimpaired strength ?
What first determined the writer to introduce preserved lymph into the Ráwal-
pindi District was the trouble there was in procuring calves and the delay in commencing
vaccination in any village where small-pox broke out. As soon as notice was received of
an outbreak of small-pox, a 'Vaccinator was sent to the spot with a little fresh lymph,
with this he vaccinated a child which was ready in a week to provide lymph, from which
a buffalo-calf was inoculated.
This calf was ready at the end of six days to provide lymph for the community. One
sees that in this way there must be a delay of thirteen days before general vaccination
takes place. Now, with preserved lymph the day the man arrives he can begin vaccinat-
ing and can go on only being limited by the supply he has brought with him.
On the 9th September 1895, Brigade-Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel Roe, the Sanitary
Commissioner, was written to on the subject and he stated that he had no objection to
vaccination with preserved vaccine being carried out in the Ráwalpindi District, if Surgeon-
Major Bamber would prepare the vaccine with his own hands. This was agreed to, but it
was not then foreseen the amount of labour that would be required before a rapid means
of preparing the vaccine would be evolved. On the 19th October 1895, the first experi-
ments with vaseline were commenced. The first thing to determine was what effect the
vaseline would have on the vaccine.
A buffalo-calf A 1 , aged about one month, which belonged to the Civil Hospital, was
-taken. This was inoculated with vaccine taken from a healthy child about three months
old.
The method of inoculation was that carried out in Mysore, for a description of
which Surgeon-Major Bamber was indebted to a paper read by Assistant-Surgeon Palpu, at
the Indian Medical Congress. This method was afterwards partly modified, and Brigade¬
Surgeou-Lieutenant-Colonel Roe afterwards sent a copy of a letter he sent in 1893, to the
Sanitary Commissioner, Punjab, detailing the method used at the Vienh of in Berlin for
vaccinating calves.
The method used in the case of buffalo-calf A 1 was as follows :—
The posterior portion of the abdomen from the navel downwards and the upper part
of the thighs were shaved. This part was then carefully washed with soap and water, the
soap washed away with warm-water and an antiseptic lotion (corrosive sublimate in 1,000)
was applied, after this had remained on for a few minutes it was washed away with sterilised
water. The vesicles on the child from which the lymph was taken were treated in exactly
the same way except the shaving. Twelve scratches 1 to 1½ inches long, scarcely drawing
blood, were made across the calf's abdomen. Into these, lymph carefully taken from the