Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-03

1t devastated Mexico in 1927 destroying
100000 people, ard almost depopulating
the country. In 1853 it extermnated whole
races of men in the Brazils. In 1890 1t
spread along the coast of Peru and swept
away all the Indians and muattoes In the
cities Of Potosi and La Paz and the adj
Jacent regions. The historian Prescott says
that the natives persisted in heaps"
A Terror to Mankind.
A generation ago Catlin wrote: Thirty
millions Of white men in North America
are now struggling and scufflng for the
goods and luxuries of life over the bones
and ashes of twelve millions of red men,
six millions Of whom have fallen victims
to smallpox. and the remainder to the
sword. bayonet and whisky of the eau
casian." Washington Irving mentions en-
tire tribes as having been nearly exter-
minated by the plague-among others the
Blackfeet, Crows, Mandans. Assinaboines
and Ricarees. A translation of the Bible
having been made for the once-powerful
six nations. by the time it was finished no
one was left to read it. AS the white man
carried his diseases and whisky with him,
and the two together have usually served
to destroy the aboriginal population wher-
ever the intruder has set foot.
In 1907 smallpox wiped out one-fourth of
the population of Iceland, taking 5000
lives. Greenland in 1874 was nearly depopu-
lated by the plague, losing two-thirds of its
inhabitants. In Russia the disease killed
2,UD,OOO people In one year. 1t was reckon
ed that In Europe $40, 900 persons died of
smallpox annually. Every twenty-five years
at least 15,OOO,OOO human beings in Europe
succumbed TO the complaint. 1t spared
neither high nor low. The father, mother
and wife of William Ill died of smallpox,
as well as his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester,
and his cousins, the eldest son and youngest
daughter of James II. His own constitution
was permanently shattered by an attack of
the scOurge.
In short, the disease was a perfect terror
to mankind. 1t continued to be such until
the beginning Of the last century, without
prospect of mitigation. Then Lady Mary
Wortley Montague wife of the British am
bassador at St Petersburg, wrote her his
toric letter describing the process Of inOc-
ulation with smallpox virus practiced In
Russia. This letter made known for the
first time in England a method Of preven-
ton which had been understood in the east
for centuries, such incubation producing a
mild form of smallpox which rendered the
patient safe from the complaint. Lady
Mary had her own children treated in this
way. In 1722. after preliminary expert
n ents on six condemned criminals, which
resulted favorably, two children Of Caroline,
Princess of Wales. were inoculated. thus
making the practice popular.
Every sort Of opposition was offered to
this new idea. Sermons were preached
against 1t. 1t was declared wicked to inter-
fere in such a way with the purposes of the
Almighty. 1t was alleged to SAVIOR Of magic
and to be an inspiration Of the devil One
clergyman. the Rev. Edward Massey, at
tempted to Prove from Scripture that Jobs
distemper was smallpox. and that he was
inoculated by Satan; hence 1t was undesir-
able to initiate the prince of evil
Discovery of Vaccination.
Though these arguments may not have
been good ones. the practice Of incubation
wi To ho
desirable for more practical reasons. The
process rendered the individual immune to
the disease, but it gave to the patient true
smallpox, though in q mild form, and he
Immediately became source from which
smallpox was spread by conragion. Thus
the total number of deaths was actually in
creased and very considerably.
Such was the forlorn and hopeless state
of the world in respect to this plague at the
end of the eighteenth century, when the OBJ
servation and wisdom of one man threw q
bright light upon the gloomy scene.
1t had been known from an early period
among the great dairy farms Of Gloucester
shire, England, that cows were occasionally
anected with a peculiar puStular disease
which could be transferred to those who
MIXED them, and that by this disease the
mixers were rendered immune to smallpox.
When hardly more than a hoy the great
Jenner was much impressed by the remark
of milkmaii who told him that she was
After thirty years spent in experimenting,
this benefactor of mankind gave to the
world the discovery that incubation with
lymph from the pustules of cowpox would
produce practically absolute immunity from
the nluch-dreaded plague.
So far as this idea was Concerned, he could
not claim originality. The same sort Of
thing has been done before There is record
OF the incubation Of three children with cow
pox by a village schoomaster near Kiel in
179l. But Jenner was first to conceive the
notion OF transmitting the vaccine from one
human being to another. thus keeping up q
perpetual supply Of lymph and rendering
mankind independent Of the uncertain sup
ply which casual disease In the cow afford
the matter of cowpox from One human being
to anotf er until the practice should be dis
seminated all over the globe 20 the total
extinction Of smallpox.
The Beneficial Results.
Success once proved. a storm of protest
and opposition arose, of course. The pulpit
Numbered. 1t was declared that smallpox
was merciful provision Of the Almighty
to ease the burden of the poor mans fam
lily. Leviticus was quoted against contain
mating the form Of the Creator with the
brute creation. Ehrmann of Frankfort
tried to prove from the Scriptures that
vaccine was actually antichrist. Portents
were observed such as the birth of an OK
faced boy, and were gravely commented
upon. ana TINS was less IMAM century
ago!
Nevertheless, vaccinati ton quickly became
diffused over the world. 1t was easily ac-
cepted by aboriginal Americans. fanatic
Mohammedans. followers of Brahma and
Confucius. and more or less enlightened
Europeans. Spain sent ships to her col
onies carrying vaccine and physicians to
give directions for its use. Within few
years the number of deaths from small
pox were reduced to only a small fraction
Of what they had been annually. For ex-
ample in Sweden there had been 1850
tality ran down within ten years to 1853
per million. In Berlin for forty years be-
fore the introduction Of vaccination an
average of 3,422 persons died OF smallpox
yearly. In the twenty-five following years
the average was only 176. Occasional cpl
denies which have occurred since then
have been due purely and solely to ne
glect Of this simple precaution.
RENE BACH.