The Washington times., 1902-02-16

lums for the blind two-thirds of all cases
of blindness were due to smallpox Such
was the rarity of an adult without the
marks of the disease upon his face that
the police descriptions in the large cities
invariably mentioned IL as distinguish
ing feature when it existed that the per-
son wanted was not pockmarked. This
fact made il easier to apprehend the one
wanted than any other popularity Of per-
sonal description.
Smallpox and COwPOx.
This virulent disease. which was the
constant dread of all and the destroyer
of childhood. causing one-third Of all
deaths in children under the age of ten
years. has been so completely banished
from civilized countries that there are
today thousands of physicians N active
practice for years who never have seen
case of smallpox.
The prevention of the disease among
those who have presented themselves vol
unfairly or have been forced to do so by
legislation is due to the discovery of the
real relationship between cowpoX and
smallpox and the ease of preventing the
latter. hideous and malignant, through
the former. benign and simple.
DR. Edward Jenner. of England. observ-
ed that in smallpox epidemics those en-
ployed in dairieS were unScatned. Trac-
ing this, he found it to be due to the
fact that they had suffered from q brief
illness commonly called cowpox. The
daiTymen contracted this disease from the
cattle and thereafter escaped smallpox.
First Use of Vaccine.
Dr. Jenner took some of the lymph ap-
pearing in vesicles upon a COW suffering
from the disease. and on Nav II, 1896,
inoculated child with it. This child
was subsequently exposed to smallpox
again and again withoat contracting the
disease. CowpoN was medically known as
vaccina, and the method of treating one
with it was called vaccination. What
vaccination did was to give the patient
d mild dise&t1 which left in the body some
substance which could destroy the small
DcN poison when the latter was brought
to the system.
Jenner published his discoveries In 1860
DR.. Waterhouse. al Boston, performed the
first vaccination in America. The value
Of the discovery impressed itself upon
the minds of the statesmen and scientists
of the day. Thomas jefferson, while
President. greatly aided in causing vac
c!Eation 10 be done throughout the coun-
try, and especially in the Southern
States.
Smallpox In War.
Since the spread OF vaccination as a
preventive for smallpox every country
which has thoroughly put vaccination into
practice has materially benefited The
one country which realized and made full
use of the preventive value of vaccina-
tion more than any other is Germany
For many years vaccination was not COM
pulsory, but was nevertheless fairly
thorough.
Just across the border. in France, Switz-
eriand, Austria. and Hungary, there was
medical belief in vaccination, but no at
tempt at general enforcement OF this
preventive measure. One OF the results
Of this difference between French and
German methods was shown in the
Franco-Prussian war, when there were
but 459 deaths from smallpox among the
German troops and 23.400 from the same
cause among the French. Smallpox was
more efto ctive than Prussian bullets
Since 1874 the law in Germany relative
to vaccination has been that il should be
done in infancy, again at school age, and,