Haj-lock 
Edward Jenner H EALTH 
HEROES 
Edward tenner 
METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 
Pacific Coast Head Office 
San Francisco 
HOME OFFICE 
NEW YORK 
Canadian Head Office 
Ottawa HEALTH HEROES 
Edward 
Jenner 
By 
Grace T. Hallock, coauthor of 
The Voyage of Growing Up and other 
health books 
and 
C. E. Turner, Professor of Biology 
and Public Health, Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology. Copyright^ 1926, by 
Grace T. Hallock and C. E. Turner 
Cover portrait from the New International Encyclopedia 
by permission of Dodd, Mead &■ Company 
r rfu exPande,d L1fe of Edward Jenner by the authors 
of thisj story has been published by D. C. Heath and 
Company, Boston. Edward Jenner 
Edward Jenner was born on May 17,1749, at Berkeley 
in Gloucestershire, England. His father, Stephen 
Jenner, was the vicar there. This was a quarter of a 
century before the war of the American Revolution. 
Edward Jenner's boyhood was spent in the country 
and, like other boys and girls who love outdoor life, he 
studied the habits of birds and animals, and collected 
fossils. His interest in natural history lasted all through 
his life. 
Although Jenner was just an everyday sort of boy, he 
was destined to become one of the greatest heroes of the 
human race, a hero in the war against smallpox. For 
centuries this giant disease had been striding up and down 
over the face of the earth, bringing death and disfigure" 
ment to the people in its path. And then one man, armed 
with a new weapon, vaccination, showed us how to 
overcome the giant. 
When Jenner was a little boy, smallpox was a very 
common disease. It was so dangerous that many people 
used to have a doctor give them a mild form of the disease 
as a protection against a severe attack. This practice was 
called "inoculation against the smallpox." The usual 
method of inoculation was to take matter from the sores 
or pocks of a patient with a mild case of smallpox and place 
it in three or four scratches on the body of the person to be 
inoculated. This ordinarily gave a mild form of smallpox 
to the person treated. Before inoculation the patient 
usually had to go through a preparatory process. 
3 METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 
Jenner's Inoculation 
When Edward Jenner was a fine, ruddy-cheeked boy 
of 8, his family decided to have him inoculated. With 
many others he was put through the preparatory process. 
This trying procedure lasted six weeks. He was first bled 
to find out whether his blood was "fine." Then he was 
purged until his rosy cheeks became pale and thin. During 
all this time he was kept on a scanty diet and dosed with 
some drink which was supposed to sweeten his blood. 
At the end of this time he was inoculated with smallpox. 
By good luck his attack of the disease was mild, but it is 
often said that he could never sleep as well afterward and 
he sometimes imagined that he heard strange noises. This 
experience of little Edward Jenner is especially interest- 
ing, because it was he who was to put an end to the 
practice of inoculation by the development of the simple 
and harmless procedure of vaccination. In order to under- 
stand what a great service Jenner rendered to humanity, 
it is necessary to know something of the history of 
smallpox up to his time. 
The History of Smallpox 
Today we can scarcely imagine what smallpox meant 
to people in the days before vaccination. Figures may 
help us a little. About 150 years ago, 10 out of every 
100 deaths were caused by smallpox. Out of every 100 
children who died before they were 10 years old 33 died 
of smallpox. More than half of all the people living were 
scarred and disfigured by it. It is estimated that 60,000,000 
of the inhabitants of Europe died from smallpox in the 
18th century. It attacked persons of every rank, from the 
peasant to the king. 
4 HEALTH HEROES-EDWARD JENNER 
Smallpox is no respecter of persons 
So common was smallpox before 1796 that an adult 
person who had not had smallpox was scarcely met or heard 
of in the United Kingdom. "If a fugitive from justice had 
happened never to have had an attack of smallpox, and, 
therefore, was not pock-marked, this fact was mentioned 
as a means of identification. Imagine the laughter that 
such a means of identification would excite today. Today, 
on the contrary, if he happened to be pock-marked, that 
fact would be advertised as a means of identification.1''* 
According to tradition, smallpox had its origin in 
India. It was also known in China at a very early period. 
The disease traveled west through Arabia, Ethiopia, and 
neighboring countries, and was brought to Alexandria in 
Egypt by the Arabs in A. D. 640. The first epidemic of 
smallpox in Europe took place about the latter part of the 
16th century. 
Smallpox is very contagious, and a severe attack 
means either death or disfigurement. A person who has 
had it usually cannot take it again. Is it any wonder that 
many people preferred to have a doctor deliberately give 
them a mild form of the disease as a protection against a 
severe attack? 
*W. W. Keen, M.D., Personal Experience in Three Epidemics of Smallpox. Saturday Evening Post, 
February 28, 1925. 
5 METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 
The History of Inoculation 
Inoculation is said to have been practiced first in India 
over 1,000 years before Christ, and we know that it was 
an old custom in China. From Asia and Africa the 
practice of smallpox in- 
oculation passed into 
Europe by way of Con- 
stantinople where it was 
known in the latter part 
of the 17th century. 
Among the Arabs the 
custom was called " buy- 
ing the smallpox." Dr. 
Patrick Russell, a phy- 
sician at Aleppo, wrote 
a letter to his brother in 
1726 in which he ex- 
plained why this expres- 
sion was used. 
This method of pro- 
curing the disease is 
termed the buying of- 
smallpox on the follow- 
ing account. The child 
to be inoculated carries 
a few raisins, dates, sugarplums or suchlike, and showing them to 
the child from whom the matter is to be taken, asks how many 
pocks he will give in exchange. The bargain being made, they 
proceed to the operation. When the parties are too young to 
speak for themselves the bargain is made by the mothers. 
An advertisement for a fugitive from 
justice who was not poc^mar^ed, 
in the days before vaccination 
Inoculation was introduced into England by Lady 
Mary Wortley Montagu. Lady Montagu was 
the wife of the British Ambassador at the Ottoman 
(Turkish) Court. She saw inoculation practiced in Turkey 
6 HEALTH HEROES-EDWARD JENNER 
and was very enthusiastic about the results. In 1717 
she wrote to a friend: 
I am going to tell you a thing that I imagine will make you 
wish yourself here. The smallpox, so fatal and general amongst 
us, is here entirely harmless by the invention of engrafting, 
which is the term they give it. There is a set of old women who 
make it their business to perform the operation every autumn 
in the month of September, when the great heat has abated. 
People send to one another to know if any of their families has a 
mind to have the smallpox. They make parties for this purpose, 
and when they are met (commonly 15 or 16 together), the old 
woman comes with a nutshell full of the matter of the best sort 
of smallpox, and asks what veins you please to have opened. 
She immediately rips open that which you offer to her with a 
large needle (which gives you no more pain than a common 
scratch), and puts into the vein as much venom as can lie upon 
the end of her needle, and after binds up the little wound with 
a hollow bit of shell; and in this manner opens four or five veins. 
The children or young patients play together all the rest of the 
day and are in perfect health until the eighth day, then fever 
seizes them and they keep their beds two days, very seldom 
three. They have rarely about 20 or 30 (pocks) on their faces, 
which never mark, and in eight days' time they are as well as 
before their illness. Everywhere thousands undergo this oper- 
ation, and the French Ambassador says pleasantly that they take 
the smallpox here by way of a diversion, as they take the waters 
in other countries. There is no example of anyone that had died 
in it, and you may well believe I am satisfied of the safety of the 
experiment, since I intend to try it upon my dear little son. I 
am patriot enough to take pains to bring this useful invention 
into fashion in England. 
Inoculation in England 
Lady Montagu had her little son inoculated in 
March 1717. This was the first time that the Eastern 
method of inoculation was performed on a British subject. 
When Lady Montagu returned to England she con- 
tinued her crusade for inoculation. Most people, however, 
were afraid to try it until they had seen its results. 
7 METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 
In August 1722 six criminals in Newgate Prison were 
offered their freedom if they would submit to the operation 
of inoculation. They agreed, the inoculation was success- 
ful, and the criminals were set free. Caroline, Princess 
of Wales, ordered the operation to be performed on some 
charity children, and as the results satisfied her, she had 
two of the young princesses inoculated. With this royal 
approval the practice gained steadily in England, and 
many English physicians became skillful inoculators. 
The inoculation of smallpox was introduced into 
America during the smallpox epidemic in Boston in 1721. 
This was Boston's sixth epidemic. The city then had a 
population of 11,000. There were 5,989 smallpox victims 
during the epidemic and 894 died, a proportion of about 
one in seven. Cotton Mather became interested in 
inoculation through reading accounts of it as practiced in 
Turkey and neighboring countries. He wrote a letter to 
the physicians of Boston on June 6, 1721, urging them to 
call a meeting for the consideration of inoculation. He 
said in his letter: 
Inoculation in America 
I will only say that inasmuch as the practice of suffering and 
preventing the Small'pox in the way of inoculation has never yet 
(as far as I have heard) been introduced into our Nation; where 
there are so many that would give great sums to have their lives 
insured from the dangers of this dreadful Distemper, nor has ever 
anyone in all America ever yet made the trial of it (tho' we have 
several Africans among us, as I now find, who have tried it in 
their own Country) I cannot but move that it be warily proceed- 
ed in. 
Dr. Zabdial Boylston was the only physician who 
listened to Cotton Mather. On June 26, 1721, he 
inoculated his son Thomas, six years of age, and two of 
his negro slaves. Dr. Boylston and Cotton Mather 
8 HEALTH HEROES-EDWARD JENNER 
Out of every seven, people 
who had Smallpox- in the 
1721 epidemic, one died. 
Mtmmc 
His Majesty's* Ship 
the "Sea Horse "brings 
Smallpox" to Boston 
from the Dry Thrtugas 
in 1721. 
both became very unpopular because of their championship 
of inoculation. Against Dr. Boylston people were so 
enraged that his family was hardly safe in his house and he 
often met with insults in the streets. Many people were 
struck with horror and thought that if any of his patients 
should die, he ought to be treated as a murderer. An entry 
in Cotton Mather's diary on July 16th tells of the 
behavior of the people: 
At this time I enjoy an unspeakable consolation. I have in- 
structed one physician in the new method used by the Africans 
and Asiatics to prevent and abate the Dangers of Small-pox, and 
infallibly to save the lives of those that have it wisely managed 
upon them. The Destroyer, being enraged at the proposal of 
anything that may rescue the lives of our poor people from him, 
has taken a strange possession of the people on this occasion. 
They rave, they blaspheme, they talk not only like idiots but also 
like Frantic^s, and not only the physician who began the experi- 
ment but I also am an object of their Fury; their furious Oblo- 
quies and Invectives. 
9 METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 
Objections to Inoculation 
But now we come to a new stage in the history of 
smallpox. Inoculation was far from satisfactory. Although 
the inoculated smallpox was much milder than the natural 
smallpox it was just as contagious and was often the cause 
of spreading the disease widely around. People had always 
shunned houses where natural smallpox raged because it 
was natural to flee from a plague that carried off one third 
or one fourth of those it attacked. But when they saw 
that the inoculated smallpox was fatal to one only in 150, 
they lost their horror of the disease and no longer tried to 
stop the spread of the infection. Another objection to the 
inoculated smallpox was that it often caused other 
diseases to break out after the attack, just as natural 
Riots in Boston, directed against the champions of smallpox 
inoculation 
10 HEALTH HEROES-EDWARD JENNER 
smallpox did. More- 
over, it frequently left 
scars or pits on the 
face of the inoculated 
person. 
It is fortunate that 
at just this time, when 
inoculation was begin- 
ning to prove an ac- 
tual menace to the 
public health, vaccination, a new protection against 
smallpox, was discovered. 
What is vaccination? If you have studied Latin you 
know that it comes from the Latin word vacca, meaning 
cow. People who worked in dairies milking cows, some- 
times caught a disease from the cows. This disease was 
called cowpox, because the sick cows had sores which 
were very like the pocks that broke out on people with 
smallpox. It had been known for a long time in farming 
communities that the people who had had cowpox did not 
take smallpox when they were exposed to it. The first 
person who made use of this knowledge was a farmer 
named Benjamin Jesty. In 1774 this man took his wife 
and children to a dairy farm, and there introduced some 
of the matter from a cowpox sore into their arms with a 
darning needle. Jesty never made his experiment gen- 
erally known. To Edward Jenner we must give the 
credit for introducing and applying the practice of 
vaccination as a protection against smallpox. 
Benjamin Jesty vaccinating his wife 
and children 
11 shoeing 
SMALLPOX 
<^^yrom to 
caTnayunS' 
of traded and by 
fwv<sler^s by? armlet 
and by s'hip^y 
tty dloak oMez* 
Way omily 
A^aked at taykb^ 
^CcXff^^ METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 
The Life of Edward Jenner 
At the age of 13 Edward Jenner decided to be a 
doctor and he was apprenticed by his family to a firm of 
surgeons in Sodbury, near Bristol. He stayed with this 
firm for six years. During his apprenticeship a young 
country woman came to him one day for medical advice. 
The subject of smallpox came up, and she exclaimed: 
" I cannot take it for I have had cowpox.11 This statement 
is said to have made a deep impression on Jenner and 
apparently he never forgot it. 
When he finished his apprenticeship, Jenner went to 
London, where he became a house pupil of the famous 
anatomist, John Hunter. Jenner formed a lasting 
friendship for his great master, and on his return to 
Berkeley, in 1773, to practice medicine, he used to send 
Hunter observations on natural history to help him in his 
studies of animal physiology. It is said that Jenner often 
discussed the subject of smallpox with Hunter and that 
one time when telling him of his hopes of substituting 
vaccination for inoculation, Hunter replied: " Don't think, 
Jenner, but try.11 
Some years after his return to Berkeley, Jenner married 
a Miss Kingscote and his married life was a long and 
happy one. 
In 1780 Jenner took up the study of smallpox. He 
often used to discuss it with his friend Edward 
Gardner. In describing Jenner, Gardner says: 
He was rather under middle-size, but robust, active, and well 
formed. He was particular in his dress, and when I first met him 
... he was clad in a blue coat with yellow buttons, buckskins, 
well-polished jockey boots with handsome silver spurs, and 
carried a smart whip with a silver handle. His hair after the 
fashion of the time was done up in a club, and he wore a broad- 
brimmed hat. 
14 HEALTH HEROES-EDWARD JENNER 
The History of Vaccination 
Jenner collected a great many descriptions of cases of 
people who had had cowpox and had afterward resisted 
smallpox contagion. He finally had a chance to put his 
theories to the test. Cowpox broke out on a farm near 
Berkeley and a dairy maid, Sarah Nelmes, was infected 
with the cowpox from her master's cows. Jenneb 
selected a healthy boy about 8 years old, James Phipps, 
for the purpose of inoculating him with the cowpox. 
He took some matter from a sore on Sarah Nelmes1 hand 
and inserted it, on May 14, 1796, into the arm of the boy 
by means of two scratches, each about half an inch long. 
If you can remember what happened when you were 
vaccinated, Jenner's description of the first vaccination 
will probably remind you of your own experience. On 
the seventh day James Phipps complained of soreness in 
his armpits. On the ninth day he became a little chilly, 
lost his appetite, and had a slight headache. He felt sick 
all day and was restless that night, but on the next day 
he was perfectly well. The sores on his arms gradually 
healed without causing the least trouble. In order to find 
out whether the boy was protected against smallpox after 
such a slight illness, Jenner inoculated him on July first 
with matter taken from a smallpox patient, but no sign of 
the disease followed. He was again inoculated, several 
months afterward, with the same result. 
The Spread of the Practice of Vaccination 
Today vaccine is never taken from the arm of another 
person. It is taken from a calf which has been vaccinated 
along a clean, shaved surface of its body. Great care is 
exercised to be sure that the calf is healthy. The quality 
and purity of the vaccine is assured. 
15 METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 
After making his first experiments Jenner published, 
in June 1798, his famous pamphlet entitled An Inquiry 
into the Cause and Effects of the Variolae Vaccine or 
Cowpox. This pamphlet caused a great deal of discussion 
and most people treated Jenner's discovery with scorn. 
However, some physicians gave it a trial. Mr. Cline, of 
London, vaccinated a child successfully in July 1798, and 
on August 2d he wrote: 
I think the substitution of cowpox poison for smallpox 
promises to be one of the greatest improvements that has ever 
been made in medicine. The more I think on this subject the 
more I am impressed with its importance. 
Jenner was, however, opposed by many influential 
physicians. In 1799 he went to London and gathered 
around him a small band of enthusiastic supporters. He 
was encouraged by gaining the interest of the King, the 
Queen, and the Prince of Wales. Royal approval aided 
in the spread of vaccination throughout England. 
Vaccination in America 
Vaccination was first made known in America by 
Dr. Waterhouse, of Cambridge, Mass. At a meeting of 
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences presided 
over by John Adams, President of the United States, the 
subject was considered and no time was lost in procuring 
a supply of vaccine matter. It was received in June 1800, 
and on July 8th Dr. Waterhouse vaccinated one of his 
sons, 5 years old, the first person to be vaccinated in 
America. He afterward vaccinated other members of his 
family- The children resisted smallpox infection and 
Waterhouse exclaimed: " One fact in such cases is worth 
a thousand arguments." Later Thomas Jefferson 
16 HEALTH HEROES-EDWARD JENNER 
The subject of vaccination discussed before a meeting of the 
American Academy of Arts and Sciences 
became interested and he had members of his family 
vaccinated in August 1801. Thus the practice spread in 
the United States. 
Vaccination in Europe 
Vaccination was taken up with enthusiasm on the 
continent of Europe. Napoleon had all his soldiers, who 
had never had smallpox, vaccinated. He was so grateful 
to Jenner that he never refused him a favor. Once 
Jenner sent a petition to Napoleon asking for the release 
of an English prisoner at a time when the Little Corporal 
was feeling very bitter against England. Napoleon 
17 METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 
received the petition when he was seated in his coach 
with the Empress Josephine waiting for his horses to be 
exchanged. Glancing at the paper he exclaimed to the 
driver: "Away! Away!" But the Empress, examining the 
paper closely, cried out: "But stay, you see from whom 
this comes-Jenner!-11 Napoleon's manner changed inn 
mediately. He said, "What that man asks is not to be 
refused,11 and he released the prisoner. 
Among the most enthusiastic supporters of Jenner's 
vaccine was the Empress of Russia. She urged her sub' 
jects to be vaccinated and ordered that the first child who 
submitted to the operation should receive the name of 
Vaccinoff, and be educated at the public expense. The 
young Vaccinoff, after vaccination, was conveyed to 
St. Petersburg in one of her Majesty's imperial coaches 
and, after being educated at the public expense in the 
Foundling Hospital, received a pension for life. The 
Empress in commemoration afterward presented Jenner 
with a diamond ring. 
Vaccinoff rides to St. Petersburg in an imperial coach' 
18 HEALTH HEROES-EDWARD JENNER 
Religious processions receive the "blessed vaccine" in Sicily 
The government of Spain dispatched an expedition in 
1803 for the purpose of introducing vaccination through- 
out Spanish possessions in the old and new world. The 
vessel in which the expedition sailed carried 22 unvacci- 
nated children who were to be vaccinated on the voyage 
in order to preserve the vaccine by passing it from arm 
to arm. 
In Sicily and Naples, where smallpox was raging, 
vaccination was received with great enthusiasm. Re- 
ligious processions were formed for receiving the "blessed 
vaccine.11 The practice of vaccination was introduced 
into Italy by Dr. Sacco, who wrote to Jenner in 
January 1808: "During eight years I reckon more than 
600,000 vaccinated by my own hand.11 
In June 1802 Jenner was given a grant of £10,000 by 
Parliament as a reward for his labors in perfecting his 
19 METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 
discovery and his generosity in making it public. He 
might have kept vaccination a secret and made a 
fortune by practicing it, because people in that day 
would, as Cotton Mather wrote, "give great sums to 
have their lives insured from the danger of this dreadful 
distemper." 
Opposition to Vaccination 
Notwithstanding the success and support that vac' 
cination was now receiving in all parts of the world, there 
were many who still opposed the practice, and pamphlets 
were constantly published by the antivaccinationists. 
Some people went so far as to assert that vaccination 
would cause a person to grow horns like a cow. 
In spite of this unreasonable opposition, vaccination 
made steady progress. Jenner had many warm friends, 
and they rallied to his support with unanswerable 
arguments in favor of the practice. It was shown "that 
vaccination is not infectious and, in the opinion of the 
most experienced practitioners, has never proved fatal, 
that it causes no other disease, and that it leaves behind 
it one of the greatest blessings ever bestowed on man, 
that of a perfect protection against smallpox.'1 
Honors Heaped on Jenner 
In 1812, at Berlin, the discovery of vaccination was 
celebrated by a Jennerian feast. Diplomas poured in 
upon the discoverer from all parts of the world. One 
was received from the Red Indians of North America, 
which read: 
Brother! Our Father has delivered to us the book you sent 
to instruct us how to use the discovery which the Great Spirit 
20 HEALTH HEROES-EDWARD JENNER 
made to you whereby the smallpox, the fatal enemy of our tribe, 
may be driven from the earth. We have deposited your book in 
the hands of a man of skill whom our Great Father employs to 
attend us when sick or wounded. We shall not fail to teach our 
children to speak the name of Jenner and to thank the Great 
Spirit for bestowing upon him so much wisdom and so much 
benevolence. We send with this a belt and string of wampum in 
token of our acceptance of your precious gift, and we beseech 
the Great Spirit to take care of you in this world, and in the land 
of spirits. 
In June 1806 Jen- 
ner was given a grant 
of £20,000 by Parlia- 
ment. A national vac- 
cination establishment 
was instituted for the 
purpose of developing 
a supply of pure vac- 
cine. In 1811 Jenner 
visited London for the 
last time. Here he was 
presented to the Allied 
Sovereigns of Europe 
who were in London 
for a conference. Em- 
peror Alexander of 
Russia told him of the 
astonishing effect of 
vaccination in Russia, where it had nearly subdued 
smallpox throughout that great country. 
Jenner died on January 26, 1823. He lived long 
enough to see the complete triumph of his great discovery, 
and to know that it affords protection against one of the 
The Indians of dearth America send 
gifts to Jenner 
21 METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 
most dreadful scourges of mankind. The following 
epitaph is inscribed on his tomb: 
Within this tomb hath found a resting place 
The great Physician of the human race, 
Immortal Jenner! Whose gigantic mind 
Brought life and health to more than half mankind. 
Let rescued infancy his worth proclaim, 
And lisp out blessings on his honored name; 
And radiant Beauty drop one grateful tear, 
For Beauty's truest friend lies buried here. 
The Principle of Vaccination 
Cowpox is a greatly modified form of smallpox. Smalb 
pox germs do not find such favorable living conditions in 
the cow as they do in human beings. Their struggle for 
existence in the cow weakens them, just as a man might 
become weakened by having to work very hard for his 
living, and yet not make enough to buy the necessary food 
to keep his body well and strong. By overcoming the 
weakened germs that are drawn from a cow sick with 
cowpox, the body is enabled to protect itself against 
virulent smallpox germs. 
Suppose a country is attacked by one tribe of a great 
race. This tribe is not strong enough to overthrow the 
country, but in fighting it the country develops its 
defenses. Then, when the main forces of the enemy enter 
the country, they find it prepared and they are unable to 
conquer it. In much the same way the body prepares 
itself, by fighting the weakened smallpox germs, to repel 
an invasion of the deadly germs of the same disease. 
We cannot say that mankind has won a complete 
victory over smallpox until it has been completely wiped 
out. One case in a community is enough to start a great 
Modern Epidemics of Smallpox 
22 HEALTH HEROES-EDWARD JENNER 
epidemic. Dr. William Osler tells the story of how one 
case did infect a whole city not so many years ago. 
In 1885 a sick Pullman porter was taken to a hospital in 
Montreal. At first the doctors didn't recognize his sick- 
ness as smallpox. There was a great unvaccinated popula- 
tion in Montreal because of people's indifference to 
vaccination. As a result of this one case, 3,164 people in 
a city of only 185,000 inhabitants died of smallpox. 
This meant probably that there were over 20,000 cases, as 
the proportion or deaths to cases is about one in seven. 
Another great epidemic happened more recently. 
When the United States took over the Philippines, about 
40,000 deaths occurred there every year from smallpox. 
Then Dr. Victor G. Heiser was made Director of Health 
for all the Islands and he started vaccination everywhere. 
In the provinces surrounding Manila there usually had 
been 6,000 deaths from smallpox every year. After 
Heiser's vaccinations were completed the death rate was 
reduced to zero. For the seven years before 1914 not a 
death from smallpox occurred in the city of Manila. 
After 1914 vaccination was not effectively carried out 
and there grew up a huge unvaccinated population. Then 
came the epidemic of 1918, when there were 50,000 deaths 
from smallpox. This meant about 350,000 cases. In 
1918-1919 among 5,422 vaccinated troops in the Philip- 
pines, though surrounded by smallpox, only one soldier 
contracted the disease. Then real vaccination was re- 
established, and smallpox vanished as promptly as before. 
There was less smallpox in the United States and 
Canada in 1934 than ever before. In 1935 and 1936, how- 
ever, the number of smallpox cases in the United States 
and Canada jumped to approximately 8,000 cases annually. 
In 1937, there was a greater increase, as 11,867 cases were 
reported. Throughout 1938, the disease continued to 
23 METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 
spread and even reached epidemic proportions in some 
sections of the country where many people disregard 
the danger of catching smallpox and ignore or belittle 
vaccination as a protection against it. 
Vaccination is the only way that we can prevent 
epidemics of smallpox from spreading through our com" 
munities. The best time for the first vaccination is in 
babyhood between the ages of 6 months and 1 year. 
Revaccination should be performed about the sixth year 
of a child's life. After this it is, as a rule, unnecessary to 
vaccinate again unless a person has been exposed to 
smallpox. 
Vaccination is such a simple, harmless means of pro- 
tection that an outbreak of smallpox is a disgrace to any 
civilized nation. How many boys and girls in your 
school wear the little white mark that means personal 
protection against one of the oldest enemies of the human 
race? May we not fail to use the life-saving knowledge 
which Jenner gave us! 
This story, Edward Jenner and Vaccination, is based on the follow- 
ing books and articles: 
The History of Inoculation and Vaccination, Lecture Memoranda, 
American Medical Association meeting, Minneapolis, 1913, 
Burroughs Wellcome and Co., London. 
The Three Original Publications on Vaccination Against Smallpox, 
by Edward Jenner, M.D., in the Harvard Classics, Volume 2, 
P. F. Collier and Son, New York, 1910. 
Edward Jenner, in Eminent Doctors: Their Lives and Their Wor\, 
by G. T. Bettany, John Hogg, 1885. 
REFERENCES 
24 metropolitan life INSURANCE COMPANY PRESS 
NEW YORK, U.S.A, 
(g) 433 L.W.