350 ;Dr. Murray on Vaccination. 



respecting it, the general state of medical and public belief in 

 all countries is, that of those who have been skilfully vaccinated 

 and who have undergone the disease in perfection, only a very 

 small proportion indeed will be found susceptible of any serious 

 infection from variolous contagion. 



I am far from meaning, by the foregoing remarks, to excite 

 any distrust in the efficacy of well conducted vaccination ; on 

 the contrary, I have every coniidence in it when followed by its 

 full assimilative action in the system ; at the same time I cer- 

 tainly wish to recommend, that the most minute attention should 

 be paid to all ihe points which have been found necessary for its 

 perfection, as it is jnost injudicious to maintain the doctrine of 

 its infallibility when irregularly performed and imperfectly 

 observed, since the proofs are undeniable and numerous, that 

 when it is irregular and imperfect in its course, it is certainly 

 not an antidote to variolous infection. 



JOHN niURRAY, M.D. 

 Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals. 



P.S. Since writing the foregoing Paper, I have received the 

 London Medical Gazette, for August last, containing a Report 

 of tho results o( Re-vaccinatw)i in the Armies of Prussia and 

 Wirtemberg, which seems to afford very positive proof of the 

 efficacy of this measure in perfecting the protective influence of 

 the Vaccine-Pox in the system, and by the remarks of Dr. 

 Gregory on this Report, 1 perceive that it has obliged him to 

 shift his ground in regard to the doctrine of the vaccine influence 

 suffering a gradual decay in the constitution, and that he now 

 takes up the position, that a decay takes place only at the 

 particular period of lite between the ages of 15 and 21 ; but as 

 these experiments prove the permanency and perfection of the 

 protective power in a great proportion of those re-vaccinated, to 

 a period of life far beyond that indicated by him, they rather 

 tend, in my opinion, to establish its permanency through life 

 to be tlie general law, and to show that the effect of the primary 

 vaccination, in a very great proportion of those soldiers, had 

 been originally more or less imperfect. 



Jt cannot be learned from the above report, at what age the 

 primary vaccination of the different soldiers took place, but if 

 this point were attended to when re-vaccination is instituted at 

 any time, or when a variolous epedcaiic occurs in any place, the 

 validity of the idea thrown out in the foregoing paper would 

 soon be ascertained. 



According to my present opinion upon the subject, I would 

 recommend vaccination to be deferred in infants till the fifth or 

 sixth month, i. e. till just before dentition commences, when 

 they arc generally freest from cutaneous affections ; — and there 

 is another very important reason for deferring it as long as it is 



