the direct means of preserving, within the London[8] Bills of Mortality
alone, a number of lives amounting to 21,127; and that if we extend the
ratio of calculation to the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, it will
appear that not fewer than 393,356 lives have been saved by this most
valuable discovery, while an equal number have been preserved from
“blindness, deformity, scrofula, or broken constitutions.”
-----
Footnote 8:
The following is extracted from the London Medical and Physical
Journal for the present month (December):—“_Influence of Vaccination
upon the mortality of Berlin._ M. Casper has published a long paper,
containing many curious details relative to the above subject; but we
can do no more, at present, than give the result of his
investigations. 1. The Small Pox formerly carried off from the 12th
to the 10th of the population. 2. Formerly, at Berlin, one out of
twelve children born, died of the Small Pox; now the deaths from the
same cause are 1 in 116.”—_Journal Comp. September._ In London, as
has been already shown, the number of deaths from Small Pox has been
diminished from 1 in 10 to 1 in 28. It is obvious, therefore, that,
were Vaccination employed in the latter city to the same proportional
extent as at Berlin, a further saving of more than 500 lives annually
would be effected, within the bills of mortality.
-----
2. That in accomplishing this result, Vaccination has acted in two
ways,—1. by superseding the practice of inoculation for Small Pox,
which (while it afforded a certain degree of security to the
inoculated) has been proved to have materially increased the gross
number of deaths, by creating, artificially, many new sources of
infection,—and, 2. by rendering the vaccinated entirely insusceptible
of Small Pox infection, or the disease produced by it, in almost every
instance, mild, harmless, and devoid of danger.
3. That Vaccination is capable, if universally employed, of
exterminating the Small Pox altogether, as has been proved by the
experience of other countries.
That Vaccination is a process perfectly unattended with danger to the
individual who passes through it, and incapable of communicating any
noxious infection to those around him, are facts too well known and too
generally admitted, to require more than a passing notice; nevertheless
it is essential that they should not be lost sight of.
But if these be indeed plain and legitimate conclusions from the facts
and arguments which have been adduced—and to myself they appear
irresistible ones—then must Vaccination cease to be considered as a
matter of policy, or of curious medical research only, for it plainly
resolves itself into a momentous moral question. Let it once be
admitted that it is capable of eradicating so great an evil as the
infection of Small Pox, and it becomes the imperative duty of every
individual to promote, to the utmost of his ability, an end so
infinitely desirable. The question involves consequences so closely
connected with the well-being of individuals and of society in general,
and the actual existence of so many thousands annually, that ignorance,
or doubt, will scarcely form an admissible apology for the omission of
what is alike essential for private and for public security. If then
any be ignorant on this momentous subject, let him not delay to obtain
information; if any doubt, let him use every exertion to satisfy
himself. If he hesitate to confer on his children the advantages, which
Vaccination has been proved to be capable of bestowing, let him
remember, that it has already been the means of preserving nearly four
hundred thousand of his countrymen, and that, perhaps, he owes his own
existence at this day, to its salutary influence; that but for
Vaccination he might possibly himself, long ago, have fallen a
sacrifice to the destructive disease from which it has rescued so many
victims, and have been equally unable to call its efficacy in question,
or to assist in consummating the grand object, which by means of it
alone, appears capable of being accomplished.
It was in our own country, that this most remarkable discovery
originated; it was our own countryman, who, with such noble
disinterestedness, as soon as he had satisfied himself of its real
value, disclosed it to the world, and who sacrificed every personal
consideration of pecuniary gain, to the general welfare of mankind. As
Englishmen, we have just cause to be proud of both—the discovery and
the discoverer; but we may well feel humbled when we remember, that the
merits of neither have been adequately acknowledged amongst us; and
that while the latter has been more justly estimated and more highly
honoured in almost every other part of the world, the former has also
been more effectively employed, and with proportionally more decisive
results.
It is true, that in some of the continental nations, where Vaccination
has been most extensively and successfully employed, it has been made a
matter of state policy, and legislative measures have been used to
enforce its adoption; while, at home, it has rested with the public to
adopt or reject it, as might be agreeable to their opinions or
prejudices. Some writers have proposed that a similar mode of enforcing
its general employment in England, by legislative compulsion, should be
made use of; but, I conceive, such measures would be too little in
accordance with the spirit of our government, and too repulsive to the
feelings of Englishmen, to render them advisable, notwithstanding the
paramount national importance of the object. That the time will
presently arrive when this object will be fully accomplished, without
any such unpalatable interference of the legislature, but by the
irresistible force of truth alone, on the minds of the public, I cannot
permit myself to doubt. Means of information on the subject, ample and
satisfactory, are within the reach of all who are anxious to enquire;
and it cannot be that they should long remain unexplored, or that they
will fail to carry conviction to the mind of every candid and
intelligent enquirer. But, when I reflect that the early conviction of
a single individual, who entertains a doubt of the protective efficacy
of Vaccination, or a prejudice against the practice, may be the direct
or indirect means of saving the lives of many, I cannot refrain from
most earnestly exhorting every one to consider this subject maturely—to
be strenuous and unremitting in his enquiries respecting it, until
every doubt is satisfied. He will then see one straight forward path of
duty before him, which he will feel himself compelled, by every moral
and religious obligation, most perseveringly and undeviatingly, to
pursue. He will feel that his own personal exertions, in promoting the
general use of Vaccination in his own family, amongst his dependents
and all those whom he can in any the slightest degree influence, are
essential to the accomplishment of the great philanthropic end
proposed—the total extinction of Small Pox: a consummation that would
prevent a larger portion of human misery, and preserve a larger number
of human lives, than any other which it is in the power of imagination
to conceive, or of reason to contemplate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE I.
The first column of this Table exhibits the total number of deaths,
and the second column the number of deaths from Small Pox,
occurring within the London Bills of Mortality, during every
successive year, for a period of 121 years.
┌───────┬──────────┬────────────┐
│ │ _Total │ _Number of │
│_Year._│number of │deaths from │
│ │ deaths._ │Small Pox._ │
├───────┼──────────┼────────────┤
│ 1703 │ 20,720│ 898│
│ 1704 │ 22,684│ 1,501│
│ 1705 │ 22,097│ 1,095│
│ 1706 │ 19,847│ 721│
│ 1707 │ 21,600│ 1,078│
│ 1708 │ 21,291│ 1,687│
│ 1709 │ 21,800│ 1,024│
│ 1710 │ 24,620│ 3,138│
│ 1711 │ 19,833│ 915│
│ 1712 │ 21,198│ 1,943│
│ 1713 │ 21,057│ 1,614│
│ 1714 │ 26,569│ 2,810│
│ 1715 │ 22,232│ 1,057│
│ 1716 │ 24,436│ 2,427│
│ 1717 │ 23,446│ 2,211│
│ 1718 │ 26,523│ 1,884│
│ 1719 │ 28,347│ 3,229│
│ 1720 │ 25,454│ 1,440│
│ 1721 │ 26,142│ 2,375│
│ 1722 │ 25,750│ 2,167│
│ 1723 │ 29,197│ 3,271│
│ 1724 │ 25,952│ 1,227│
│ 1725 │ 25,523│ 3,188│
│ 1726 │ 29,647│ 1,569│
│ 1727 │ 28,418│ 2,370│
│ 1728 │ 27,810│ 2,105│
│ 1729 │ 29,722│ 2,849│
│ 1730 │ 26,761│ 1,914│
│ 1731 │ 25,262│ 2,640│
│ 1732 │ 23,358│ 1,197│
│ 1733 │ 29,233│ 1,370│
│ 1734 │ 26,062│ 2,688│
│ 1735 │ 23,538│ 1,594│
│ 1736 │ 27,581│ 3,014│
│ 1737 │ 27,823│ 2,084│
│ 1738 │ 25,825│ 1,590│
│ 1739 │ 25,432│ 1,619│
│ 1740 │ 30,811│ 2,725│
│ 1741 │ 32,169│ 1,977│
│ 1742 │ 27,483│ 1,429│
│ 1743 │ 25,200│ 2,029│
│ 1744 │ 20,606│ 1,639│
│ 1745 │ 21,296│ 1,206│
│ 1746 │ 28,151│ 3,236│
│ 1747 │ 25,494│ 1,380│
│ 1748 │ 23,869│ 1,789│
│ 1749 │ 25,516│ 2,625│
│ 1750 │ 23,727│ 1,229│
│ 1751 │ 21,028│ 998│
│ 1752 │ 20,485│ 3,538│
│ 1753 │ 19,276│ 774│
│ 1754 │ 22,696│ 2,359│
│ 1755 │ 21,917│ 1,988│
│ 1756 │ 20,872│ 1,608│
│ 1757 │ 21,313│ 3,296│
│ 1758 │ 17,576│ 1,273│
│ 1759 │ 19,604│ 2,596│
│ 1760 │ 19,830│ 2,187│
│ 1761 │ 21,083│ 1,525│
│ 1762 │ 26,326│ 2,743│
│ 1763 │ 26,143│ 3,582│
│ 1764 │ 23,202│ 2,382│
│ 1765 │ 23,230│ 2,498│
│ 1766 │ 23,911│ 2,334│
│ 1767 │ 22,612│ 2,188│
│ 1768 │ 23,639│ 3,028│
│ 1769 │ 21,847│ 1,968│
│ 1770 │ 22,434│ 1,986│
│ 1771 │ 21,780│ 1,660│
│ 1772 │ 26,053│ 3,992│
│ 1773 │ 21,656│ 1,039│
│ 1774 │ 20,884│ 2,479│
│ 1775 │ 20,514│ 2,669│
│ 1776 │ 19,048│ 1,728│
│ 1777 │ 23,334│ 2,567│
│ 1778 │ 20,399│ 1,425│
│ 1779 │ 20,420│ 2,493│
│ 1780 │ 20,517│ 871│
│ 1781 │ 20,709│ 3,500│
│ 1782 │ 17,918│ 636│
│ 1783 │ 19,020│ 1,550│
│ 1784 │ 17,828│ 1,759│
│ 1785 │ 18,919│ 1,999│
│ 1786 │ 20,454│ 1,210│
│ 1787 │ 19,349│ 2,418│
│ 1788 │ 19,697│ 1,101│
│ 1789 │ 20,749│ 2,077│
│ 1790 │ 18,038│ 1,617│
│ 1791 │ 18,760│ 1,747│
│ 1792 │ 20,213│ 1,568│
│ 1793 │ 21,749│ 2,382│
│ 1794 │ 19,241│ 1,913│
│ 1795 │ 21,179│ 1,040│
│ 1796 │ 18,905│ 3,548│
│ 1797 │ 17,014│ 522│
│ 1798 │ 18,155│ 2,237│
│ 1799 │ 18,134│ 1,111│
│ 1800 │ 23,068│ 2,409│
│ 1801 │ 19,374│ 1,461│
│ 1802 │ 19,379│ 1,579│
│ 1803 │ 19,582│ 1,202│
│ 1804 │ 17,038│ 621│
│ 1805 │ 17,565│ 1,685│
│ 1806 │ 17,938│ 1,158│
│ 1807 │ 18,334│ 1,297│
│ 1808 │ 19,954│ 1,169│
│ 1809 │ 16,680│ 1,163│
│ 1810 │ 19,893│ 1,198│
│ 1811 │ 17,043│ 751│
│ 1812 │ 18,295│ 1,287│
│ 1813 │ 17,322│ 898│
│ 1814 │ 19,783│ 638│
│ 1815 │ 19,560│ 725│
│ 1816 │ 20,316│ 653│
│ 1817 │ 19,968│ 1,051│
│ 1818 │ 19,705│ 421│
│ 1819 │ 19,228│ 712│
│ 1820 │ 19,348│ 792│
│ 1821 │ 18,451│ 508│
│ 1822 │ 18,863│ 604│
│ 1823 │ 20,587│ 774│
└───────┴──────────┴────────────┘
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE II.
This Table is divided into intervals of five years each. It
embraces the same period of 121 years, included in the former,
and is intended to shew the encrease in the average amount of
mortality from Small Pox during the practice of Inoculation,
and the striking diminution which has taken place since the
introduction of Vaccination.
┌────────────────┬──────────┬────────────┬────────────┬───────────┐
│ │ _Total │ _Number of │ _Number of │ _Relative │
│ _Periods of 5 │number of │deaths from │deaths from │ number of │
│years including_│ deaths._ │Small Pox._ │Small Pox in│deaths from│
│ │ │ │ 1000._ │Small Pox._│
├────────────────┼──────────┼────────────┼────────────┼───────────┤
│ 1703 to 1707 │ 106,948│ 5,293│ 49.4│1 in 20.2 │
│ 1708 -- 1712 │ 108,742│ 8,707│ 80.0│1 in 12.4 │
│ 1713 -- 1717 │ 117,740│ 10,119│ 85.9│1 in 11.6 │
│ 1718 -- 1722 │ 132,216│ 11,095│ 84.5│1 in 11.9 │
│ 1723 -- 1727 │ 138,737│ 11,625│ 83.6│1 in 11.9 │
│ 1728 -- 1732 │ 132,913│ 10,705│ 80.5│1 in 11.4 │
│ 1733 -- 1737 │ 134,237│ 10,750│ 80.0│1 in 12.4 │
│ 1738 -- 1742 │ 141,720│ 9,415│ 66.0│1 in 15.0 │
│ 1743 -- 1747 │ 120,753│ 9,484│ 78.0│1 in 12.7 │
│ 1748 -- 1752 │ 114,625│ 10,179│ 89.0│1 in 11.2 ⎫│
│ 1753 -- 1757 │ 106,074│ 10,025│ 95.0│1 in 10.5 ⎪│
│1758 single year│ 17,576│ 1,273│ 72.4│1 in 13.8 ⎪│
│ 1759 -- 1763 │ 112,986│ 12,633│ 111.8│1 in 8.9 ⎪│
│ 1764 -- 1768 │ 116,594│ 13,630│ 116.9│1 in 8.5 ⎪│
│ 1769 -- 1773 │ 113,770│ 10,645│ 93.5│1 in 10.6 ⎬│
│ 1774 -- 1778 │ 104,179│ 10,808│ 103.7│1 in 9.7 ⎪│
│ 1779 -- 1783 │ 98,584│ 9,050│ 91.7│1 in 10.8 ⎪│
│ 1784 -- 1788 │ 96,247│ 8,487│ 88.2│1 in 11.3 ⎪│
│ 1789 -- 1793 │ 99,509│ 9,391│ 94.3│1 in 10.5 ⎪│
│ 1794 -- 1798 │ 94,494│ 9,260│ 96.9│1 in 10.2 ⎭│
│ 1799 -- 1803 │ 99,537│ 7,762│ 77.9│1 in 12.8 ⎫│
│ 1804 -- 1808 │ 90,829│ 5,930│ 65.3│1 in 15.3 ⎪│
│ 1809 -- 1813 │ 89,233│ 5,299│ 59.3│1 in 16.8 ⎬│
│ 1814 -- 1818 │ 99,332│ 3,488│ 35.1│1 in 28.4 ⎪│
│ 1819 -- 1823 │ 96,477│ 3,390│ 35.1│1 in 28.4 ⎭│
└────────────────┴──────────┴────────────┴────────────┴───────────┘
The first Bracket includes the period when Inoculation for Small Pox
was in most general use. The second Bracket the period of Vaccination.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Lately was published by the same Author, and to be had of
E. Charnley, Price 1s._
HINTS
TOWARDS THE ADOPTION OF AN
IMPROVED PRINCIPLE OF REMUNERATING
The Surgeon Apothecary,
OR,
GENERAL PRACTITIONER IN MEDICINE.
ADDRESSED TO THE
MEMBERS OF THE PROFESSION
AND THE
PUBLIC AT LARGE.
Newcastle; Printed by T. & J. Hodgson,
Union Street
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcriber’s note:
Page 4, ‘in-instances’ changed to ‘instances,’ “where three instances
had occurred”
Page 14, ‘recal’ changed to ‘recall,’ “who cannot recall many more”
Page 24, double quote moved to after ‘advantages,’ “of some real
advantages” (p. 59).”
Page 25, double quote inserted after ‘are,’ “words are” (p. 37),”
Page 59, double quotes added after ‘results’ and before ‘which,’
“results” (adds Dr. Thomson) “which evince”
Page 73, full stop inserted after table heading ‘Year.’
Page 74, ‘8817’ changed to ‘1788,’ “1788 19,697 1,101”