TRANSLATIONS FROM CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 179 
peared^ the lameness was less^ and the swellings had decreased. 
On the 15th everything had assumed its normal state. 
Not to interrupt this recital^ nothing has been said as yet 
about inoculation. We return to it^ as it is the most im¬ 
portant part of this interesting observation. On the 25th of 
April; eight days after the invasion of the eruption, M. 
Lafosse took with his lancet some of the virus of the pustules, 
and publicly inoculated a young cow by a puncture on each 
teat. Four days passed without any alteration, either in the 
health of the animal or in the punctures. On the 30th the 
punctures began to redden, and in an excess of zeal, perhaps 
useless, the operation was renewed in the presence of a 
greater number of witnesses. On the 3rd of May, eight days 
after the first operation, the teats were covered wuth pustules; 
there were five patches, large, firm, round, and umbilical in 
shape, which made the margins appear more salient. From 
this aspect it would have been difficult not to recognise the 
cow-pox; M. Lafosse recognised it at once. The director of 
the school, M. Prince, on being consulted respecting it, gave 
the same opinion. From that moment the fact seemed so 
important that it was thought too much publicity could not 
be given to it. The prefect of the department, therefore, was 
written to, to ask him to appoint a special commission. The 
members of this commission were M. Prince, president; 
MM. Docteurs Cayrel, Laforgue, Amen, and Batut, and M. 
Lafosse^ author of the discovery and of the memoir we are now 
analysing. On the 4th of May the inoculation was repeated 
in the presence of the commission, the virus being now taken 
from the teats of the cow, and inoculated into the teats of an¬ 
other cow. The result was the production of pustules of the 
same kind as those which had been produced by the virus 
taken from the horse, only better formed. 
Up to this time the virus had only passed from the horse 
to the cow. M. Cayrel deemed it advisable to try it on the 
human subject; he therefore inoculated a child with the same 
result as if the virus had been taken from the beast. On the 
other hand, M. Lafosse proposed to carry it back to its source; 
he therefore inoculated another horse on the muzzle, which 
produced several pustules, but these were found by the com¬ 
mission somewhat altered in form, from the horse having 
rubbed the parts against the rack. Into one M. Cayrel 
having plynged his lancet, he inoculated another child, the 
result of which was six beautiful pustules. We spare you the 
further details of these inoculations, as no one was better 
qualified for the task than M. Cayrel, as no one is better 
acquainted with the vaccine disease than that gentleman. 
