240 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



PEEVENTIVE INOCULATION. (II.) 



By Dr. W. M. HAFFKINE, 



DIRECTOR-IN-CHIEF, GOVERNMENT PLAGUE RESEARCH LABORATORY, BOMBAY. 



TN a previous paper I reviewed briefly the history of preventive inocu- 

 -*- lation and described the results of my attempts to secure a 'virus 

 fixe' in the case of cholera. It will be remembered that the two vaccines 

 finally obtained protected guinea pigs successfully against all possible 

 forms of cholera infection. 



It was now necessary to ascertain whether the same protection 

 could be given to man which was observed in animals. For this purpose 

 it was essential to first of all prove the perfect harmlessness of the 

 operation. This was established by very careful observations of medical 

 men and scientists who were inoculated in Europe soon after the results 

 of the above investigations were published. The inoculation causes a 

 rise of temperature and general discomfort, which lasts one or two days, 

 and some pain at the seat of the injection, which disappears in a few 

 days. The fever and discomfort induced are, on the whole, shorter in 

 duration, though often more intense, than those caused by vaccination 

 against smallpox. The effect disappears within a few days and the indi- 

 vidual returns to his usual condition of health. 



The next and all-important stage was to devise an experiment or a 

 series of experiments on man so as to test the efficiency of the method 

 against cholera attacks. This part of the investigation could only be 

 done in a cholera-stricken country, where opportunities would arise of 

 comparing the incidence of the disease in inoculated and uninoculated. 

 Such opportunities are limited. Except in certain parts of India and 

 China, cholera appears in localities unexpectedly and does not last long. 

 In the places where the disease is endemic the cases are scattered over 

 large areas. These features rendered the demonstration of the effect 

 of the vaccine a matter of particular difficulty. In 1893 I went to 

 India, and in the course of a year inoculated some twenty-three thou- 

 sand people in the northern parts of the country; but no cholera ap- 

 peared in their midst to show whether the vaccine was of value or not. 

 In the spring of 1894 the inoculations were introduced into Bengal, 

 and, with the assistance and co-operation of Prof. W. J. Simpson, of 

 King's College, London, at that time Health Officer of Calcutta, and 

 of his staff, efforts were made to induce the inhabitants of the hustees 

 of Calcutta to get themselves inoculated. These bustees are isolated 

 villages consisting of groups of mud huts inhabited by the poorer class.. 



