Vciin 



... 



Dr. Jen- 

 ner' ac- 

 count of iu 

 origin in 

 the hone. 



1S6 INOCULATION. 



mainder of this article, give an account of the principal tinues to be distinguishable through life, being either Vaccine 

 points which have been ascertained, and take notice of somewhat depressed, or merely of a whiter colour than 

 some desiderata which are not vet fully supplied. the neighbouring skin. 



Symptoms 



of it in the 

 cow. 



its symp- 

 toms when 

 comniuni- 

 cauu by 

 carnal m- 

 fection. 



When com' 

 municated 

 by inocu- 

 lation. 



some desiderata which are not yet fully supplied 



It w8 maintained by Dr. Jenner, that this disease is 

 never of sporadic origin in the cow, but is derived from 

 a disease of horses called the grease, by the application 

 of the thin secretion yielded by that disease in its ear- 

 lier and less conspicuous stages. Several presumptive 

 evidences of this connection are given by him. Some ex- 

 periment* made by subsequent observers gave a different 

 result. Negative evidence, however, is less to be trust- 

 ed than that which is positive; and we have the re- 

 spectable authority of Dr. Loy for believing, that this 

 matter is capable of communicating the true disease to 

 the cow, and through it to the human system ; nay, 

 that without passing through the cow, the virus taken 

 from the horse at a particular stage of the disorder, im- 

 parts the real cow-pox to the human subject. Whe- 

 ther it ever originates in the cow independently of the 

 horse, is a question of more difficult solution, as all the 

 outbreakings of contagious diseases are enveloped in 

 some obscurity. 



In the cow, the disease appears in the form of irre- 

 gular pustules on the teats. At their first appearance 

 they are commonly of a palish blue, or rather of a co- 

 lour somewhat approaching to livid, surrounded by an 

 eryxipelatous inflammation. These pustules, unless reme- 

 died by caustic applications, or other effectual means, de- 

 generate into tedious and troublesome phageclenic ulcers. 

 This disease is transferred to the hands and wrists 

 of the persons employed in milking. It appears in the 

 form of blisters, similar to those which arise from burn- 

 ing. Their shape is circular where the situation will 

 admit of it. Tumours are formed in the arm-pits. Va- 

 rious 

 vomitin 

 several days. 



When communicated by inoculation, this disease as- 

 sumes a milder aspect, partly in consequence of the mat- 

 ter being less extensively applied, and partly in conse- 

 quence of the parts in which it is inserted being less 

 disturbed, and having a thinner cuticle than the hands. 

 The inoculated cow-pox is much more regular in its ap- 

 pearances than the casual. About the third or fourth 

 day a small red spot appears in the punctured part, 

 which gradually becomes more florid, and is slightly 

 hardened and swelled. On the fifth or sixth day, this spot 

 is converted into a small white vesicle. In two days 

 this is much increased in size, and generally acquires' a 

 diameter of one-third or one-half of an inch. It has 

 elevated edges, and, in the centre, a small depression, 

 which is soon surrounded with a narrow crust. This 

 last circumstance has been ascribed to the artificial 

 puncture ; but we have found a similar appearance 

 in those rare cases in which other vesicles arise be- 

 sides that which is formed at the inoculated part. On 

 the eighth or ninth day, a circular inflammation ap- 

 pears around the vesicle, which increases for three 

 days, and is sometimes half an inch, sometimes two 

 inches in diameter. On the eleventh or twelfth day, 

 this inflammation begins to disappear, first at an inter- 

 mediate place between the vesicle and the outer margin 

 of the red areola, producing the appearance of two flo- 

 id concentric rings, one in contact with the vesicle, 

 and another at a distance, like a lunar halo. The vesi- 



is febrile symptoms arise, as shivering, pain of limbs, 

 liting, headach, and delirium, which continue for 



The appearances are subject to some slight varieties. Variations. 

 One of these is a copious eruption of minute papula? 

 on the inoculated arm, about the third day. This goes 

 off in a few days. It most probably arises from some 

 peculiar irritability in the inoculated subject, and is not 

 generally found to bring after it any disadvantages. 



In some instances, a copious pustular eruption has Particular 

 appeared over the whole l>o<ly, which lias given rise to eruption?. 

 interesting discussions. These chiefly occurred under 

 the practice of Dr. Woodville, at the small-pox hospital 

 in London, and hence were ascribed to some influence 

 of variolous matter, or a variolated atmosphere. They 

 are, with greater probability, considered by Mr. Bryce 

 as cases of true small- pox. We have, however, seen 

 two cases of general, eruption, one of which was copi- 

 ous, and the vesicles, though smaller than that which 

 usually arises at the inoculated part, were distinguish- 

 able from those of small-pox by a minute central, 

 and apparently depressed crust, which resembled the 

 vaccine vesicle. From one of these, matter was in- 

 serted in the arm of another child, and produced the 

 real cow-pox. Such cases, however, are extremely rare. 

 The greater part of those in which pustules appear over 

 the body, are cases in which the infection of small -pox 

 has been received into the system previously to the ino- 

 culation, has been silently operating, and at last shown 

 its symptoms in this form. Matter taken from such 

 pustules for inoculation, has, accordingly, produced the 

 true small-pox. 



The febrile symptoms attending cow-pox are some- Febrile 

 times well marked ; more frequently they are slight, symptoms. . 

 and sometimes scarcely discernable. 



Two important questions are involved in this sub- 

 ject. First, Is the cow-pox perfectly safe ? and, 2d, 

 Does it afford full security against small-pox? 



Its safety might almost be presumed from its general is cow-pox 

 mildness when compared to the inoculated small-pox, productive 

 The latter has much fever, and is acknowledged to be of n ? " 

 sometimes fatal. A slight fretfulness or uneasiness for 24 a e n '"' 

 hours, or less, is all the fever that generally attends ino- 

 culated cow-pox ; and of this none have died. Deaths 

 may happen from other causes,' while the cow-pox runs 

 its course ; but even this is an infrequent occurrence ; 

 and some have indulged fancy so much, as to think it pro- 

 bable that the cow-pox increased for that short period the 

 average chance of human life, and thus was not only 

 no disease, but an additional confirmer of the constitu- 

 tion against every contingency. 



But, though never fatal, the cow-pox may be sup. or subset 

 posed capable of generating other diseases, either im- quent dis- 

 mediately, or on some future occasion, or of making the advantage? 

 system obnoxious to some diseases in a more severe and 

 dangerous form than they would otherwise assume. 

 Some intemperate enemies of cow-pox endeavoured to Cutaneous 

 explode it, by describing it as capable of producing that sequele. 

 loathsome cutaneous affection, the itch ; and, that they 

 might the more fully substantiate their point, added, 

 that this itch was cured by the same means as the com- 

 mon psora. This last observation evidently took away 

 the whole force of their objection. Who would hesitate 

 to employ the cow-pox, though succeeded by an itch 

 which required a few rubbings with sulphur ointment 



cle becomes harder, and of a dark brown colour, and, for its removal, in order to avoid the small- pox -a disease 



nflammation is gone, is converted into a horny which combines so much greater loathsomeness,- with 



ist, wl id) adheres for a time, and afterwards sepa- imminent danger of death,- and of hideous permanent 



rates, leaving a red raw-looking depression, which con- deformities ? Cases of this sort have certainly occurred. 



