Letter from Dr. Thornton on the Cow-Pox. 43 



anns. It took effect in botli places, and the pustule on 

 the left arm rose finely, and did extremely well ; but that 

 on the right arm got rubbed by some means, formed itself 

 into an vgly scabby sore, producing real pus under it ; and 

 as fast as the scab came away, it formed a larger sore, 

 very deep, and was a very troublesome wound For more 

 than six weeks, the scab filling up the place, extending to 

 nearly the size of half-a-crown ; and this would have been 

 set down as an untoward case of vaccine inoculation, de- 

 pending upon some peculiarity in the constitution, unless 

 fortunately we had inoculated both arms, and the one arn^ 

 had done so kindly. She had no fever, or any constitu-r 

 tional affection; was taken into the house where the natural 

 small-pox was, and inoculated then, and several times after, 

 but to no purpose ; she was unsusceptible of the small-pox. 



11. Maria Fry, let. 7, had one pock, thg fever was of 

 one day and night's continuance, and her father described 

 her " as burning like a coal, sick^ but not to vomitj and 

 as rambling in her sleep." 



Observations. — rWhen she had gone through the cow- 

 pock I made a double experiment ; I inoculated her with the 

 small-pox, and at the same time her sister Charlotte, cet. 

 15, who had had the small-pox when seven years old, and 

 was terribly disfigured by it, with the cow-pock ; and, con- 

 trary to my expectations, there was a pustule formed in 

 Maria Fry's arm, and a general consternation took place 

 among the villagers ; but upon examination, there was no 

 lur of inflammation round it, no regular pustular rising ; it 

 ficabbed on the fourth day*, and produced no constitutional 

 disease, or any pustules : the cow-pox in Charlotte Fry died 

 away like a common scratch. 



It may not be irrelevant to mention here, that Jane 

 Mattinson and Mary Dunn both presented themselves 

 to be inoculated; but from their own account it was 

 more than probable they had had the small-pnx. The 

 former had nursed a child who died of that disease; it 

 was the child of his lordship's park-keeper. At the yame 

 time I inoculated these with the cow-pock, I also inoculated 



* In a few instances where 3 pustule lias been fcrmed of either kind, 

 the progress was found to be very diiferent from the true pustule ; and 

 this iiind, like a seed sown en s^round, or in a climate, not congcciji, 

 came forward, and soon passed oft"; whereas the other has its regular 

 «tages of rising, falling and scabliing- Those who have the spvri'iu* 

 pustules, if I may so call them, have complained of mM^h ilchi>:g, which 

 1 have not observed in the other sort ; a'ld at the end of ten days the 

 pustule was gone, without leaving behind the usOaI large and deep scar. 



the 



