The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-12-16
Why vaccinate?


 One of the most stupid and iniqui- tous follies which the medical profess sion has ever perpetrated is the hid- eous farce of vaccination
 It is contended that the inoculation | of a subject with virus of a smallpox patient, modified by transmission through a calf, will prevent the sub | sequent development of smallpox. Originally, this immunizing effect was claimed for swine-pox, then for 1 ''horse grease"-from the hoofs of a tion of horse and COW pox was the only sure enough pus of life, then came arm-to-arm vaccination, and now, the Lord only knows what ] The outbreak of "foot and mouth dis ease" two years ago, which the gov ernment stamped out after great trou- | ble and expense, proved that the inn munizing agent in this instance was the virus of that dread malady, pro- cured from Japan, "extra pure,'' which Detroit firm was selling broad ] cast as vaccine virus.
 The vaccinists insist that in order to prevent a healthy individual from con- I tracing smallpox, it is first necessary | to sicken him by introducing the pu- trid matter from a running sore into his system, and after he recovers from the effects of this poisoning-if he does l he will be immune to attacks of smallpox.
 l Let us examine this claim. Lady Mary WortIey Montagul first | introduced into England, in 1721, the l Turkish method of "engrafting'' small i time practising. There was a certain "set of old women who made a peripetetic business of this operation. This practice was adopted in Eng land, where it was shortly regarded as most wonderful medical discovery, and it's influence in preventing small pox was spoken of as cone of the best established of medical facts" The physicians of that day accorded | it the same distinguished yeneration which they now display towards cow pox vaccination.
 In 1754. the Royal College of Physi- clans of London, formally resolved That the arguments which had been urged against smallpox inoculation had been refuted by experience" and it was endorsed as highly salutary to the race.'"
 But instead of checking the disease, it tremendously increased the number of cases, inasmuch as each patient in- oculated became a source of infection "a indus from which the sckening stream flowed in ever increasing vol ume-therefore in 184O this practice which had, been so enthusiastically en- dorsed and advocated by the Royal College of Physicians, was condemned by Act of Parliament as criminal of fence. In the meantime, however, Q7S8) Edward Jenner had discovered another method of inoculation with swine-pox, which he first employed on one of his own children.
 He hadn't quite enough confidence in it to try it on himself. This, he shortly relinguished in fa- vOr of virus taken from the sore of a milkmaid infected with COW pox Results not being satisfactory, he turned to "horse grease" as he call ed it-although it afterwards turned out that heiwas actually using horse pox, employing virus from the ulcers of man who had become infected from handling the heels of a sick mare
 This led to his "dnal discoyery''- which was a combination of cow-pox and horse grease, with which a human being was inoculated, from whose sores would be taken the matter which would forever, after secure from the infection of these smallpox" :"
 
 smallpox-and not only from small pox, but constitutional diseases trans mitted by arm-to-arm vaccination Scrofula, tuberculosis, and unmention- able blood diseases followed the adop- ton of this pernicious practice until the growing fear and dissatisfaction tn England led to the appointing of a Royal Commission with Lord Hersh- ell, as chairman, to investigate the matter.
 This Commission sat from 1889 to 1896, and considered the testimony of experts from all parts of the world. It's report is the most exhaustive collection of medical evidence ever ta- ken, and resulted in 1898, in the ''Con- science Clause of the Vaccination Acts. Vaccination is no longer com pulsOry in England. However, with our "plentEful lack of wit'' we have not yet evolved to that point, but insist instead that children must be vaccinated before being edu- 1 cated. Perhaps if they were educat- ed first, and vaccinated afterwards, they'd never be vaccinated.
 Now we come to the crux of the ar gument-which is, why is vaccination so consistently taught and dogn1ati- cally enforced? The answer is be- cause, like many other hoary falla- cies, which have the approving sane tion of usage, few have ever taken tIe tIouplo lO lodTH TOT L0oIQSeVeS what it is-or is not
 While the majority of physicians are brilliantly qualified in their particular line, but very few are familiar with the history or statistics of vaccination.
 They are taught that it is a mod ern miracle-a sort of dfstillation of all the essential virtues of Aesculapius and herewith "basta." No personal studies, with a view of establishing or discrediting the truth of this, have been attempted by them. When there were, they ceased to be vacc1nistS-aS witness Lord Hershel1 and twelve others of his associates on the Royal Commission, and Dr. Chas Creighton, the eminent pathologist who for the purpose of writing the ar ticle on vaccination for the Ninth Ed ition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, made an exhaustive study of this sub ject, with. the result that he was thor oughly convinced that it was both useless and dangerous" Read his ar- ticle, in which reason, science, exper- fence, and statistics combine to dem- onstrate the utter futility of vaccina- ton.
 thusiastfc vaccinist, after profound ex- animation with a view of supporting the practice, wrote two volumes against it.
 And hundreds of others likewise. But error dies slowly. It requires many years for slow plodding Truth to over take the frisky and froHcsome Lie.
 Now, the medical profession, as a yI~ -1~