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The Story of a Great Delusion in a Series of Matter-of-fact Chapters
The Story of a Great Delusion in a Series of Matteroffact Chapters Author:William White Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: to do with horsegrease cowpox. The origin of cowpox in horsegrease was scouted as an intolerable origin. It was disgusting. Why a diseased secretion from horses'... more » heels should he more repulsive than a similar secretion from cows' teats was not explained; but, as we all know, there is no accounting for tastes. Various attempts were made to verify Jenner's prescription by inoculating cows with horsegrease, but they ended in failure—fortunately, it was said, in failure ; for as Dr. Pearson (chief among primitive vaccinators) observed, " The very name of " horsegrease was like to have damned the whole thing." What did Jenner do under these circumstances ? Did he confront the public and assert the efficacy of horse- grease cowpox ? Not he. He wanted money. He saw how the wind was blowing. He said not another word about horsegrease cowpox; and as the public were eager at any price to escape from the nuisance of smallpox inoculation, and disposed to substitute cowpox as a harmless substitute, why then he resolved to go in for cowpox, and pose as its discoverer and promoter. Jenner's Transformation. I am not making what is called a constructive charge against Jenner, but simply setting forth plain, undeniable matter-of-fact. I ask any one in doubt as to what I say to read Jenner's Inquiry, published in 1798, the prescription of which is horsegrease cowpox, and the condemnation of cowpox. Turn then to his petition for largess, addressed to the House of Commons in 1802, and what do we find ? Not one word about horsegrease cow- pox, but this audacious assertion:— "That your Petitioner has discovered that a disease " which occasionally exists in a particular form among " cattle, known by name of Cowpox, admits of being in- " oculated on the human frame with the most perfect ease " and...« less