INOCULATION. 



?, and winter bonchrctiens, which keep much longer 

 'Liirrcs, crnfanes, &c." 



.1 for ftandards that have been grafted in the fpring and 

 iviiiicd, he advifts tliat they flioiild he cut below the 

 . as, when fo treated, they throw out a great number 

 i >'o;s, wliich fliould by no means be too foon thinned, 

 :;> in that cale they will be hable to be broken by the wind. 

 The weakeft (hoots may be begun to be taken off about 

 the latter end of May or beginning of June. About the 

 middle of the latter month they will have acquired confi- 

 fiderable llrength, then thin them, leaving as many ftrong 

 regular (hoots, and of tliofe nearoll the top of the (tern, 

 as will form a liandfome liead. If the ilcm be very ftrong, 

 it will be neccfTary, perhaps, to leave more than aie intended 

 to be inoculated on purpofe to receive the fap, which will 

 flow in great abundance from a large trunk, and without 

 this precaution be apt to burft the (lioots. He has often 

 feen (hoots as large as his arm burll by a fuperabundance of 

 fap. When that is likely to happen, the bell tiling is to 

 fcarify the (hoots and nib a little of the compolition into the 

 wound. See Bi'n, BiUDixti, and Giiaftixg. 



INOCULATION, among Gardcntrs, fignilies an ope- 

 ration in the management of fome forts of fruit-trees, which 

 is frequently denominated budding. See Budding, and the 

 preceding article. 



IxocuLATios, in a furgual and medical fenfe, denotes 

 the practice of delignedly communicating from one perfon 

 to another certain difeafes, which is generally done by in- 

 troducing fome of the infeftious matter into a Cmall wound, 

 or puufture, made witli the point of a lancet. The com- 

 mon purpofe of idch operation is to diminilh the feverity 

 and peril of a dlllemper, which, taken in a cafual way, 

 proves exceedingly dellruftive, and the hazard of catch- 

 ing which, at fome period of life or another, is very con- 

 fiderablc. A chief objeft of the plan is alfo, in general, 

 to render the patient incapable of being again affected by 

 the dreaded contagion. Hence inoculation is fcldom per. 

 formed, but for a difeafe with which the human conilitu- 

 tion can only be affected once, as the fmall-pox and cow- 

 pox. The latter, which is fo mild as fcarcely to deferve 

 the name of a difeafe. being only communicable by con- 

 tact, and exifting originally no where except upon the teats 

 and udders of cows j would never perhaps have troubled any 

 other perfons than a few milkers, had it not been for the 

 difcovery of the important fact, that perfons who had un- 

 tlergone the complaint were made completely unfufceptible 

 of the fmall-pox contagion. The cow-pox inoculation has 

 row, therefore, been very generally fubitituted for that 

 with variolous matter, and the bei;e(icial confequences of 

 this change are fo truly important that the Jennerian dif- 

 coven/ will ever be regarded as a moil memorable event, 

 not only in the annals of medicine and furgery, but in the 

 hiftory of the world. See Cow-pox and Vaccination. 



Although it is our intention to devote this article to the 

 hitloiy of the fmall-pox inoculation, v.e may here remark, 

 that the meafles iiave been propagated by inoculation. Dr. 

 Home, of Edinburgh, was the lirft who a£tually made the 

 experiment. Not being able to coUedt either matter, or a 

 fufficient quantify of broken cutiele at the lime of defqua- 

 mation. to produce the dilcafe, he drew blood from a fu- 

 perncial cutaneous vein, where the eruption was thickcft. 

 Cotton was then dipped in this blood, and applied to a wound 

 made in each arm of the perfon about to be inoculated. 

 In this manner Dr. Home inoculated twelve perfons. The 

 eruptive fever generally began fix days after inoculation ; 

 the fymptoms were lefs fevere ; the cough was milder, or 

 entirely abfeot ; and the inflammation of the eyes was trifling. 



Notwithftanding Dr. Home's fuccefs, inoculation for the 

 meafles is feldom or never praftifed, others, who have 

 made tlic experiment, not havhig given reports equally fa- 

 vourable. 



Inoculation for the plague has likewife been tried,, in or- 

 der to afcertain whether that diftcmper might not be ren- 

 dered lefs fatal and lefs prevalent in particular parts of the 

 world. In Egypt, Dr. Whyte inoculated himfcif with 

 matter taken from the buboes of an infLcted perfon. Tiie 

 attempt failed twice ; and the third proval fatal in three 

 days after the commencement of the fymptoms. See fir R. 

 Wilfoii's Hiit. of the Expedition to Egypt. 



I[i the prefent Rate of our information, inoculation for 

 the plague appears unjuftiliable. It was alcertaincd in 

 Egypt, that many of the convalefcents took the plague a 

 fccond time ; nor, in all probability, does inoculation render 

 this diftemper milder. Indeed, what M Sonnini ohferves, 

 feems to lead to a contrary conchilion ; for he mentions, thai; 

 a Rulhan furgeon, who was a prifoner at Conllantinople, 

 with a number of his countrymen, took it into his head to 

 inoculate thefe unfortunate men with the plague, under the 

 idea of rendering the contagion lefs deflructive ; but the 

 refult was, t!iat t\^'o hundred loil their lives, as well as the 

 furgeon, who had alfo inoculated himfelf. See Sonuini's 

 Travels into Greece and Turkey, p. 497. 



The idea of intentionally imparting any kind of difeafe to 

 the human body would appear, to perfons unacquainted with 

 the rcafon of the thing, equally extraordinary and cruel. 

 But the defign and utility of the inoculation for the fmall- 

 pox are now fo fully known among all clafTes of fociety, 

 as fcarcely to need explanation. When it is remembered, 

 that the fmall-pox contagion has, at various periods, nearly 

 depopulated extenfive kingdoms, and occafioned greater de- 

 valtation than the raoft deftruftive wars, any meafure, cal- 

 culated to render milder fo terrible a difeafe, mull be looked 

 upon as a difcovery of tlie very higheil importance. It has 

 been eftimated, that, upon an average, before the intro- 

 duction of inoculation, one out of every fix perfons affefted 

 with the natural fmall-pox, or fometimes even a half, perifh- 

 ed ; but that the proportion of deaths, among fuch as have 

 been inoculated in the mod improved manner, does not 

 amount to more than one in feveral hundreds. Belides this 

 circumftance, we have to mention, that before inoculation 

 became common, the fmall-pox frequently committed ra- 

 vages like the plague, and the fury of the dillemper was 

 always dreadful whenever the contagion made its flrll viht ta 

 a country. If, then, we are to hail the fmall-pox inocula- 

 tion a?- a general and momentous benefit to fociety, on the 

 principles jult now fpeciiied, with what joy and admiration, 

 mail we behold the difcovery of a complete fecurity againfl 

 the fm.all-pox infettion, in the new and perfectly fafe kind 

 of inoculation with vaccine lymph. The fmall-pox inocu- 

 lation materially alleviated the calamities arifing from that 

 contagion, by making the difeafe milder, and leffcning its 

 mortality. But, (till, the diftemper was not unfrequently 

 feen in a fevere form ; at lead one oat of every three or 

 four hundred inoculated died ; and the countenances of 

 thofe who furvived were often miferably pitted and dif- 

 figured. On the other hand, the vaccine inoculation Imrdly 

 ever produces any ferious indifpofition, and being followed 

 by no eruption, cannot deform the face. Its iafety a'.id 

 eiucacy are daily receiving more and more confirmation 

 from all quarters of the world, and wc have no doubt 

 that, after prejudices have had time to fubfide, the fmalU- 

 pox inoculation will be univcrfally fuperfeded. 



The original introduftion of inoculation, however, will 



always conliitute a moll memorable eveht ia hillQry, and \% 



< a fubjcft 



