96 I N O C U I 
©f our fenfes, conveys the difeafe as well as the largeft 
quantity. Hence the moil obvious method is the prick 
of a needle or the point of a lancet dipped in the matter 
of a variolous pultule. Cotton or thread is ufed, that is 
previoufly rubbed with powdered variolous fcabs ; this 
thread is drawn with a needle through the cutis, but not 
left in. This is the method in fome parts of the Eaft In¬ 
dies. The Indians pafs the thread on the outfide of the 
hand, between any of the fingers, or betwee'n the fore 
finger and thumb. The Theffalian women inoculate in 
the forehead and chin. 
Some abrade the fcarf-tkin, and rub in the powdered 
dry fcabs which fall from the puftules of patients with 
the fmall-pox. Many of the Greek women make an ob¬ 
lique puncture with a needle, on the middle of the top of 
the forehead, on each cheek, the chin, each metacarpus, 
and each metatarfus; then drop in each a little of the pus 
juft taken warm from the patient, and brought in a ier- 
vant’s bofom. Others in Greece make feveral little 
wounds with a needle in one, two, or more, places, in the 
Ikin, till fome drops of blood enfue ; then the operator 
pours a drop of warm pus frelh from a puftule, and mixes 
it with the blood as it iffues out; and the wound is co¬ 
vered by fome with a bandage, by others with half a wal- 
nut-lhell placed with its concave fide over each orifice. 
The Chivtefe convey a pellet of variolated cotton, with 
the addition of a little mufk, into the noftrils of the pa¬ 
tient; they colleft dry puftules, and keep them in a por¬ 
celain bottle well corked ; and, when they inoculate, they 
mix a grain of rnulk with three or four grains of the dry 
fcales, and roll them in cotton. This method may be 
called inodoration. 
About Bengal, in the Eaft Indies, the perfon who in¬ 
tends to be inoculated, having found a houfe where there 
is a gocd fort of the fmall-pox, goes to the bed of the fick 
perfon, if he is old enough ; or, if a child, to one of his 
relations, and (peaks to him as follows ; “1 am come to 
buy the fmall-pox.” The anfwer is, “Buy if you pleafe.” 
A fum of money is accordingly given, and one, three, or 
five, puftules, tor the number mull; always be odd, and 
not exceeding five, extracted whole, and full of matter. 
Thefe are immediately rubbed on the (kin of the outfide' 
of the hand between the fore-finger and the thumb; and 
this fuffices to produce the difeafe. The fame cuftom ob¬ 
tains in Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and other countries. 
Very fimilar to tire cuftom among the people about Ben¬ 
gal, See. is that in Arabia, where on fome fieflry part they 
make feveral punftures with a needle imbrued in vario¬ 
lous matter, taken from a puftule of a favourable kind. 
Here they buy the fmall-pox too, as follows : the child to 
be inoculated carries a few railins, dates, fugar-plums, or 
Inch like ; and, fhowing them to the child from whom 
the matter is to be taken, alks how many pocks he will 
give in exchange ? The bargain being made, they pro¬ 
ceed to the operation ; but this buying, though fcill con¬ 
tinued, is not thought necellary to the fucceis of the ope¬ 
ration. The Arabs fay that any flethy part is proper; 
but generally they infert the matter' between the fore¬ 
finger and thumb on the outfide of the hand. The Ge¬ 
orgians infert the matter on the fore-arm. The Arme¬ 
nians introduce the matter on the two thighs. In Wales 
the praft ice may be termed inj'riEiion of the fmall-pox. 
There fome of the dry puftules are procured by purchafe, 
and are rubbed hard upon the naked arm or leg. 
The practice in fome places is to prick the (kin between 
fome of the fingers by means of two fmall Yseedles joined 
to one another ; and, after having rubbed a little of the 
matter on the fipot, a circle is made by means of feveral 
punctures of the bignefs of a common puftule, and mat¬ 
ter is again rubbed over it. The operation is finifhed by 
drefling the wound with lint. Another cuftom is to mix 
a little of the variolous matter with lu.gar, and give it to 
be drunk in any agreeable liquor. 
Incilkns have been made in the arms and legs, and 
thread, cotton, or lint, previoufly dipped in tiis variolous 
. A T I O N, 
matter, was lodged in them. The practice of fome is t« 
bathe the feet in warm water, and then fecurelint dipped 
in the variolous matter on the inftep, or other part of the 
foot where the fkin is thin. Others apply a fmall blifter- 
ing-plafter; and, when the fcarf-fkin is elevated and flipped 
off, the variolous matter is applied to the furface of the 
true fkin, and confined there by a little lint or platter.. 
Scratching the fkin with a needle, and then rubbing the 
part with lint previoufly dipped in variolous matter, is 
the cuftom in fome places. In the Highlands of Scotland 
they rub fome part of the fkin with frefli matter, or dip 
worfted in variolous matter, and tie it about the children’s 
wrifts. They obferve, that, if frefh matter is applied a few 
days fucceflively, the infection is more certain than by one 
application. 
If the perfon to be inoculated is of a full habit, active, 
and ftrong, the diet may for a time be lowered ; and, as 
it is proper to prevent accumulations in the bowels, calo¬ 
mel may be employed as a purgative, as well as any other 
medicine; as a vermifuge, in children, it may be. fuperior. 
to any other. In general, except in inflammatory habits 
peculiarly full, and children grofsly fed, there is fufficient 
time for the preparation after the matter is inferted. 
The operation itfelf, as now praftifed, is the fiinpleft 
poflible, coniilting only in railing the fkin, and introducing- 
under it the variolous matter. Sutton attributed much: 
of his fuceefs to ufing fluid matter at an early period of 
the puftule, and it is certainly preferable ; for, at a more 
advanced llage, it partakes of the nature of common pus, 
and produces more inflammation than would arife from 
matter exclufively variolous. In general it is fafer to 
procure a drop of blood, which fhould not be wiped away, 
but fuffered to congeal. The puncture fometimes re¬ 
mains many days, without the flighteft change, and occa- 
fionally the mark appears to leilen. If the operation, 
however, has been fuccefsful, it does not heal; and this 
is often the only foundation for fuppofing that the infec¬ 
tion has taken place. In other circumftances it begins to 
inflame in a few hours, and, after four-and-twenty, be¬ 
comes a high l’y - in flam m a to/y puftule ; a rapid advance, 
which ufualiy portends a violent difeafe. In the greater 
number, of cafes, after about twenty-four, or, at molt, 
forty-eight, hours, a little fwelling may be obl'erved on 
the wound, and, on examining it with a lens, a little 
orange-coloured circle appears around. On the fourth or 
fifth day a hardnefs may be perceived wheredhe puncture 
was made, an itching is felt,, and a flight inflammation is 
obfervable. On the fixth day a pain and ftiffnefs are ge-. 
nerally felt in the axilla, which continue until the tenth, 
or eleventh day, foretelling the near approach of the erup¬ 
tion, and a favourable progrefs. On tbs feventh or eighth, 
day the eruptive fymptoms appear, fuch as flight pains ia 
the head and back, ftiffnefs in the arm-pits, tranfient thi- 
verings, with alternate heats, &c. which continue more or 
lefs until the eruption is completed ; the inflammation ia 
the arm fpreads, and little puftules furround the wound, 
which increafes in lize as the. difeafe advances. Or. the 
tenth or eleventh day an effiorefcence round the punfture 
fometimes extends half-way round the arm ; and, the larger 
it is, the fewer the puftules and the milder the difeafe,. 
When it accompanies the eruption, the fever and other un- 
eafy fymptoms fubfi.de, and all danger is at an end. 
The favourable fymptoms are, an orange-coloured ftaia 
about the edges of the puncture on the lecond day, fol¬ 
lowed by an itching and a vefication, without much in¬ 
flammation ; on the third or fourth day, but not delayed 
beyond the fixth, a pain and ftiffnefs in the axilla; the 
large efflorefcence about the puncture on the tenth or 
eleventh day ; a hardnefs which fpreads from the punc 
t-ure as from a centre, and a little dry fcab on the inflamed 
part when it riles to an apex. The lefs favourable lymp- 
toms are, a purplith inftead of a red-coloured inflamma¬ 
tion or a narrow deep red circle furrounding the punc¬ 
ture, and when the incrultati.on around it is deprefl'ed or. 
concave in the middle. 
When 
