Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1830-12-08
(For the Herald Of the Times
SMALL POX.

dttehtioh VI thc CHiZenS W tlllS suDJeCt,
there may be propriety in giving pub
lcity to few ofthe more important facts
in relation to this disease, which, howcv-
or familiar to the medical profession, are
probably little known, though by no
means unintcresting to the community.
This formidable malady brought from
the East into Europe more than a thou
sand years ago, has continued ever
since; appearing at intervals as an cpl
demic, and carrying dsmay and death
into the midst Of every people sub ected
to its ravages.-So susceptible is the
system to this contagion, that very few of
the human family can come with impunity
within the sphere of its influence. Be
fore the introduction Of inoculaton into
Europe, it was considered that but n
small number of individuals attained the
age of maturity without having under
gone this diseasc--and at that time there
can be little doubt that Smallpox num-
bcred infinitely more victims than famine
and the sword. Restriction of inter-
course and other sanitary and prccau-
tionary regulations, though useful and
important, appear to have had little cf-
feet in controlling its devastations, and
the first check which this enemy of our
race received, was the practice o(rNocU-
LArIoy. TO the intelligent and spright-
ly Lady Mary Montague, the christian
world is said to be indebted for this i'm
portant measure. In the family of the
British Ambassador she remained some
time at Constantnoplc, and to her obscr-
want eye, those internal domestic ar
rangcmcnts were revealed, which the
vigilance of oriental jealousy has ever
concealed from strangers of the other
sex. Here she found that incubation
for the Smallpox, (thcn unknown in
Europe, now so familiar to us all, was
regularly and safely practiccd, and on
her return to England in the beginning
Of the last century, she carried with her
this invaluable Improvement. The great
Importance of this practice was soon
acknowledged, and in the course of a
few years, 1t became so general that
although the frequency Of Smallpox was
not diminished, it had already lost many Of
its tcrrors. by this, however, nothing
more than n diminution of the mortality
of the disease can be obtained, and there
could be no expectation Of its extinction
by process which serves to propagate
and perpetuatc the poison. But from
the discovery Of mild eruptive COM
plant, which although never fatal or even
serious, almost universally renders those
who have received it secure from small
pox, we may yet hope that this rcdoubt-
able malady will disappear, and be
known, only by name, to succeeding
generations. The cow-pOx, or vaccine
disease, so called from vacca, the latin
word for COW, is said to have been first
communicated to man from an eruption
sometimes found uponthc udder& teats of
that useful animal. In the progress ofthc
smallpox inocuation in England, it was
found that in some parts of the country
where the above mentioned disease pre-
vailed among the kline, many persons
were found who were not susceptible of
smallpox, and that those individuals
either had the cow-poX at the time of
the operation, or had previously labour-
ed under it. This astonishing fact
is said to have been long known in
some remote parts of Great Britain,
but TO DR.. Jenner who first announced it
tO the public in 1893, the world is under
incalculable obi cations. A discovery
promising immunity from the attacks of a
di sgusting and dangerous disease, by a
proc ess so simple rs vaccination, was
soon tested, approved, and adopted. Ev-
cry cx G .tion was made to extend the ben
cfits of this operation, both by the mcdl-
c al profession s. the several governments
Of Europe; and without awaiting the pro-
eress of public opinion, in some countries
a genera vaccination was ordered and
enforced. The results of the rapid and
,f L ,nn-nnnE