The Florence daily tribune., 1898-12-22
A TIMELY TOPIC
Smallpox and Vaccination by
Benjamin Roseberry, RI. d.

represented by the words which
stand at the head of this article.
engross the attention of the pub
lie mind of Florence at the pres
ent time, almost TO the exclusion
of all others. That this is true,
is shown by the number of ques-
tions daily and hourly asked of
medical men by an anxious peo-
pie, alarmed for the safety of them
selves and families, and naturally
desirous of learning everything
possible contributive to these ends
With the object of satisfying IN
the simplest manner possible this
legitimate curiosity on so import
ant matter, | have concluded to
ask you for sufficient space in st,ur
valued paper, in which to answer
some of the more frequently pro
pounded questions. In doing SO
| shall coniine myself to answer
ing only those questions which
have been addressed to me person
ally many times over by different
individuals during the past few
days.
Preliminarily | may be pardoned
to remark, that in this closing pc
riod of our enlightened 10Th cen
tury, more than one hundred years
since the Introduction of vaccina-
ton for the prevention Of small
pox, it is not astonishing to say
the least of it, that so many erro-
neous ideas will dominate the
popular mind on this subject and
all that relates to it. The very
character of the question herein
reproduced, attest the truth of the
proposition. That any person of
even ordinary intelligence should
at the present day doubt the eff
cacy Of vaccination as prcventa-
tive of variola, is almost beyond
belief, but when people of more
than ordinary intelligence NOT
only confess to entertaining this
view but go further and assert
their belief that the procedure is
positively harmful, we Can only
stop in great amazemcnt and won
der if such a thing can be possible?
| am constantly asked tho ques-
tion: doctor, do you believe
vaccination will prevent small
pox?- Is not vaccination more
dangerous to the individual than
an attack of smallpox | will
answer these two quotations in the
order which they stand.
First-Yes. / not only believe
that vaccination will prevent
smallpox, but | know it. The
history of the last one hundred
years or more proves it beyond the
shadow of a doubt Previous to
the discovery of the principle of
vaccination by Edward Jenner in
the latter part of the 18th century,
smallpox annually claimed its vic
Tins by the thousands and hund-
reds of thousands all over the
world. Nothing known at that
day was capable of checking its
horrid ra'ssages 70 any great degree.
In its relentless march through
christendom it spared neither rich
nor poor, high or low. 1t struck
down the humble peasant in his
cottage, laid him low on. his pallet
of straw and quickly .landed him
in an unmarked grave along with
myriads of his kind. 1t assaulted
the king in all his might and pow
er and grandeur, and hurled him
from his throne forever, and be-
tween these two extremes it passed
over neither the virtuous nor the
vicious, the ignorant nor the in
telligent, the maiden in her youth
full beauty nor the yoan5 man in
the bloom of the flower of his
strength, but all alike from the
babe in the era lie to the old and
feeble man already rapidly totter-
ing toward the grave paid tribute