Small-pox and Be-vaccination. 45 



2Srd, were, like ourselves, received in the kindest manner 

 by all the authorities of Gibraltar. 



It had been arranged that we should make the voyage to 

 Madeira in company with the Caroline, but an unexpected 

 incident prevented it. The small-pox* made its appearance 

 on board, and although in a mild form and in but a few 

 cases, yet it was sufficiently alarming to interrupt, as a matter 



* As there has lately been some difference amongst the medical men of Europe 

 as to the utility of vaccination, the following observations from the report of Dr. 

 Wawra, the principal j)hysician on board the Caroline, regarding the appearance 

 and the course of this epidemic, may not be out of place : — " A day before our 

 departure from Trieste a man complained of a shght fever and headache, and 

 his skin was covered wdth spots wliich were judged at once to be indications of 

 an approaching eruption of small - pox. The man was immediately sent on 

 shore as a matter of precaution ; but, nevertheless, eight days after our de- 

 partiu'e we had a second, and ten days after that a tliird case : the epidemic 

 was on board, and though in a mild form, yet serious consequences were ap- 

 prehended. The re-vaccination of the men was therefore decided upon, and 

 carried out, as far as the virus on board would admit. Only five individuals 

 of the whole had not been vaccinated at all; some had undergone the opera- 

 tion in their childliood, a great part of them, however, had been vaccinated 

 on board other vessels, from two to five years before. Only fourteen cases 

 occuiTed. Most remarkable, and evidently in favom' of those who advocate 

 re-vacciaation, is the fact, that amongst most of those who had been vaccinated in 

 theu' cliildliood, the disorder w^as more severe than among those who had been 

 re-vaccinated on board the sliip. Among those who had never undergone the 

 operation before, the vaccination on board was most successful ; not one of 

 them caught the disorder. Among the re-vaccinated only four cases occiuTed, 

 witli slighter symptoms than among those who had been once only operated 

 upon. We met wdth several instances of the kind at other places where we 

 touched. At Buenos Ayres, where the vaccination laws are stricter tlian any- 

 where else, the small-pox is extremely rare. Among the BrazUians, who entertain 

 an absolute prejudice against vaccination, the variola is one of the most 

 conunon and most frightful diseases. It prevails stUl worse amongst the negi-o 

 slaves, among whom, from the ignorance and prejudice of their masters, vaccina- 

 tion is neglected. The wliite marks of the disease are particulai-ly visible in 

 the black skin, and are evident proofs how virulently it has raged amongst tliem." 



