The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-03-16

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had no scruple that II would be found 80 In
the smaller citles OF course the most
feasible idea would Be 70 have q Board Of
Examiners for each county, composed Of
the representatives ofdifeFent schools; and
It would save many asad tragedy u the ex-
animation were made 20 thorough rs 10 ex.
clHde those who had no prospect Of success,
and rescue them from the disappointment
Of waiting In vain for professional employ
ment.
The Dispute in Regard 70 Vaccination.
An esteemed friend in the Kanawha
sends US an article that recently appeared
in the Charleston Tribune in regard to vac.
cination, which he would like to see repro.
duced in the columns Of tho INTELLloES.
cER. 1t Is mainly based on the alleged
ilCts and figures given by Mr.. Bergh, Of
New York, which facts and figures ap-
peared in the INrELLtoEScER at the time
they appeared In the New York papers. It
b therefore unnecessary for us to reproduce
the articlereierredto. physician Of Wheel
ing Immediately replied to the article, and
other replies in other quarters have since
appeared-all ofthem, as whole, amount.
ing to q successful and crushing reiutation
Of Mr.. Bergh's characterization theory.
For the benefit Of our Kanawha friend,
and ali others who take stock in Mr..
Bergh's theory, We append the substance
Of one Of the very latest Of these replies:
The virtue claimed for vaccination by
Jenner, It's discoverer, and still maintained
for It, is that it prevents the smallpox in at
least as many cases as the smallpox itself
will prevent the recurrence Of the disease.
1t Is also claimed that those cases Of small.
pox which occur after vaccination present
the disease in modified form, very much
less likely to result in Disagreement and
death, and that these cases diminish in
proportion to the thorough ness or the
efficiency Of the vaccination. Before the
introduction OF vaccination, the deaths
from smallpox in England and Wales
averaged. 5000 per year for each million Of
inhabitants; from 1888 to lSl0,when vaccin-
alton was prevalent, but not gratuit
ouGy performed, the deaths fell to
40 per million; from 1871 10 1858,
when It was gratuitous, the deaths
fell to 3O4, and from 1854 to 1865, when IL
was to certain extent obligatory, to 202.
Zone Of the best points IN the world at
which to study smallpox and the effects Of
vaccination Is the smallpox hospital at
London, which mover runs out OF patients
and where the experience Of thirty years
has been carefully recorded, covering l5,.
900 cases. DR.. L. G. Seaton, the leading
authorlty, thus presents the results Of this
experience in his review OF vaccination in
Reynolds system OF medicine. OF the to.
tai number OF deaths in that period, at this
hospital, So per cent were OF persons who
had never been vaccinated; 10 per cent
were Of persons who, had had smallpox;
23l per cent were OF persons said to have
been vaccinated, but showing no.scar. OF
those showing scars, numbering Is per
cent, L73 per cent showed but one, 40 but
two, LOS three and .55 per cent four or
more. Thus the proportion Of deaths de-
Creases directly with the certainty OF the
vaccination. These figures are confirmed
by others gathered in connection with the
vaccination OF $1,000 school children in
the English smallpox epidemic Of 1856.
DIR. SeatOn enlarges upon the necessity of
q successful vaccination at start; vaccina.
ton, in other words, which had "gone
through all its stages with perfect regular
| ity, and had given evidence OF injecting
the constitution 1t is the experience OF
armies that cases OF smallpox after vaccin-
alton occur from Is to Is years OF age and
after that diminish in number. After
puberty, he recommends re-vaccination,
unless the primary vaccination was OF the
highest class. The statistics Of re-vaccinat-
ed soldiers Of the Prussian and Wurtem.
burg armies show that even variloid is
practically extinguished among them.
Gone thorough primary vaccination after
puberty, SO conducted as TO give evidence
that the lymp was absorbed, is all tina. is
necessary for the complete protection OF
the population against smallpox"
Children should only DO vaccinated
when in good health, unless there Is i'm.
mediate danger Of smallpox. DR.. Seaton
insists that all should DO vaccinated by the
age Of three months, unless there are strong
reasons to the contrary; as vaccination
reaches It's effective stage in nine days or
three less than the smallpox, 1t may often
overtake and neutralize the latter. He re-
commends that four or five vesicles or scabs
be raised, and It Is held that the disease is
no more severe with this number than with
less, but only more certain. Good vacci.
majors ought not TO fail OF success oitener
than once in $50 times, and total insns.
ceptibility Is very rare.
As to the dangers Of vaccination, DrSSea-
ton presents the experience OF men who
had seen'from 5000 to $1,000 vaccinated
persons and failed to find an authenticated
case OF the transmission Of other disease
Scroiulous diseases constantlymet in child.
hood are often attributed to vaccination,
when they are due to other causes. Yacci.
nation is held by some, with great proba-
bility," says DR.. seaton, to be in some
cases the exciting cause thedevelopment
and external manifestation Of Ia constitu-
tional affection which but for 1t might have
remained latent much longer. Prof. Paget,
who had large experience in children's
hospital, says this is "the worst
thing which can be charged against
vaccination, and even this can very sell
dom be charged with truth" DR.. Seaton,
whose experience was large, says he had
never found in the child from which the
lymph was taken, the diseases which it was
said TO have impaired. The possibility OF
this, however, should be the occasion OF
the greatest care in selecting the lymph
and in its administration. The public re.
Iquirement OF vaccination by law rests on
the pauperizing fatality Of smallpox, and
on the impregnability OF the evidence in
favor Of the preventive efficacy and harm
lessness OF this precaution, and on the fact
that the indifference and ignorance Of men
lead to its neglect, unless public authority
intervenes in favor Of its observance.
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