258 THE WONDERFUL CENTURY. CHAP. xvra. 



continual growth of urban as opposed to rural popula- 

 tions has neutralized the effects of such improved con- 

 ditions as we have been able to introduce. 



I3ut the most important fact for our present purpose 

 is that small-pox is subject to this law just as are the 

 other zymotics, while it pays no attention whatever to 

 vaccination. The statistician to the Eegistrar-General 

 for Scotland gave evidence that ever since 1864 more 

 than 96 per cent, of the children born had been vacci- 

 nated or had had previous small-pox, and he makes no 

 suggestion of any deficiency that can be remedied. But 

 in the case of Ireland the medical commissioner for the 

 Local Government Board for Ireland, Dr. MacCabe, told 

 the Commissioners that vaccination there was very im- 

 perfect, and that a large proportion of the population was 

 " unprotected by vaccination," this state of things being 

 due to various causes, which he explained (2d Keport, 

 QQ. 3059-3075). But neither Dr. MacCabe nor the 

 Commissioners notice the suggestive, and from their 

 point of view alarming, fact that imperfectly vaccinated 

 Ireland had had far less small-pox mortality than thor- 

 oughly well-vaccinated Scotland, enormously less than 

 well-vaccinated England, and overwhelmingly less than 

 equally well-vaccinated London. Ireland Scotland 

 England London a graduated series in density of 

 population, and in zymotic death-rate; the small-pox 

 death-rate increasing in the same order and to an enor- 

 mous extent, quite regardless of the fact that the last 

 three have had practically complete vaccination during 

 the whole period of the comparison; while Ireland alone, 

 with the lowest small-pox death-rate by far, has, on offi- 

 cial testimony, the least amount of vaccination. And 



