The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1909-05-04
orally Displayed.

The medical fraternity as a whole
was roughly handled at the meeting
of the Anti-Compulsory Vaccination
League of this city, at Lincoln hall last
night. In fact yesterday was the
field day of those who are opposed to
the practice of injecting vaccine virus
into the bodies of healthy persons.
The principal speaker of the evening
was DIR. S. B. Mum of Waterbury,
president of the State League. Major
Thomas Boudren, the father of the
characterization movement in Bridge
port, was present and a gratified lis
tener. He has seen his fight of 20
years or more bear fruit and believes
that the final triumph Of his principles
is not far off. The most noticeable
feature Of the evening was the hostil-
ity to the regular medical practitioners
which cropped out at frequent inter
walls. The foibles and errors of the
doctors were the subjects of many
sharp thruSts- Had they been pres
ent themselves to have heard the be-
laboring they got they would have
been compelled at times to join the
general laugh.
Major Boudren had procured a large
number of stercopticon slides, con-
tanning pictures of cases where vacci-
nation had resulted in permanent in
jury. or death. These cases were all
accompanied by a history, giving the
name of the patients and other infor-
These pictures furnished a veritable
chamber of horrors. Some of them
were a pitiful commentary on existing
conditions
ain opened with a short address in
which he attacked the compulsory vac
cination theory. He said the only
ones the practice protected from small
Fox were those who were killed by it.
He regretted that he must take a train
for Waterbury, and left the meeting.
DIR. Mum followed with an address
which was rational and convincing,
hut also kindly. He dealt with his
subject from a medical standpoint, for
he has been a practicing physician for
over so years. The speaker began at
the foundation and explained what
cowpox means ard also what the dis
ease smallpox is dependent upon. He
was armed with figures and a fund of
Information gathered in the years he
has been opposing the vaccination
habit.
He attacked the theory that there is
any such thing as pure virus. 1t Is
contradiction of terms, a tautology,
1t is not pure if it is virus. To re-
flute the statement that vaccination
creates an immunity from smallpox or
it is contracted, DR.. Mum cited his
experience in Waterbury in 1882 when
there was an epidemic OF smallpox in
that city. OF the 10 cases which came
to his attention only one had been
vaccinated and the patient died All
the others who had not been vaccfnat-
ed recovered.
He made a point when he called at
tention to the fact that physicians pass
from house to house containing pa
tients suffering from contagious dis
eases. While health officer of the city
of Waterbury he passed from houses
containing smallpox patients to others
and also returned to his own home
where he had growing children and he
carried no infection. He alluded to
the general belief that doctors have
some method of providing immunity
for themselves unknown to the general
public. He created a laugh when he
asserted that he did not believe doc
tors could be so inhuman as to re-
quire vaccination or allow the spread
of smallpox when they knew of an
other better plan which they kept a
secret from the public.
DIR Mum asserted that smallpox
was the result of an excess Of urea in
the blood. Without this condition
smallpox could no more exist in the
human system than potatoes could
grow in a snow bank. When the kid
neys are unable to remove the proper
of urea the subject is in a
condition to contract smallpox. If
that condition did not exist smallpox
could never follow. A sovereign pre-
ventative is a good diuretic and it is
found in every house. If a teaspoon
full of cream tatar be dissolved in
pint OF water and a tablespoonful be