PROPHYLACTIC IMMUNIZATION OR VACCINATION 681 



minds of . right-thinking and unbiased persons. The history of the 

 world before the days of universal vaccination shows the wide prevalence 

 of smallpox and its fearful mortality. It was regarded as a disease of 

 childhood, owing to the fact that all contracted it at the earliest op- 

 portunity, and, accordingly, smallpox was the cause of a fearful infant 

 mortality. 



At the present day, owing to the general employment of vaccination, 

 smallpox is a rare disease, but its very rarity has fostered a certain de- 

 gree of false security and carelessness in carrying out the process. A 

 young and new generation of non-vaccinated persons in any community 

 is a source of danger, and accordingly sporadic cases are often blessings 

 hi disguise, from the fact that, when they appear, compulsory vaccina- 

 tion is then instituted and large numbers seek revaccination. 



In Germany, where vaccination is compulsory, smallpox is now a 

 comparatively rare disease. While the general death-rate from all 

 diseases is lower in England and Wales than in Germany, the smallpox 

 mortality is seven and one-half times the mortality of Germany, and, 

 proportionate to the population, over 13 times. 



Austria, one of Germany's neighbors, had, for the twenty years 

 following 1874, almost 30 times as high a smallpox mortality as Germany. 

 During this period 239,800 persons perished in Austria from smallpox 

 alone. 



Physicians should carefully impress upon those over whom they have 

 any influence the necessity of being vaccinated, for only a thoroughly 

 vaccinated population can solve the problem of exterminating smallpox 

 as an epidemic disease. 



RABIES 



There are but few diseases more dreaded by the laity than rabies, 

 or hydrophobia. Tales of the sufferings of infected persons, especially 

 those with the furious variety of this infection, characterized by maniacal 

 symptoms and dread of water (hydrophobia), have been thoroughly 

 disseminated, so that the cry of "mad dog!" on the public streets is 

 sufficient to arouse a general state of hysteric excitement in which an 

 otherwise harmless creature may be compelled to bite or snap for self- 

 protection. Not all dogs under these conditions are mad or infected 

 with rabies, and the bite of an angry dog, otherwise normal, is not 

 necessarily dangerous from the standpoint of rabic infection. However, 

 almost every one, upon being bitten by a dog, will promptly consult 

 his physician, and this is proper and to be encouraged. Genuine rabies 



