Upton Sinclair - "Jimmie Higgins"

Kate Douglas Wiggin - "Homespun Tales"

Pierre Loti - "Madame Chrysantheme, v2"

Hector St. John de Crevecoeur - "Letters from an American Farmer"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: The Harvard Classics Volume 38

V >> Various >> The Harvard Classics Volume 38




CASE XVI.--Sarah Nelmes, a dairymaid at a farmer's near this
place, was infected with the cow-pox from her master's cows in
May, 1796. She received the infection on a part of her hand which
had been previously in a slight degree injured by a scratch from
a thorn. A large pustulous sore and the usual symptoms
accompanying the disease were produced in consequence. The
pustule was so expressive of the true character of the cow-pox,
as it commonly appears upon the hand, that I have given a
representation of it in the annexed plate. The two small pustules
on the wrists arose also from the application of the virus to
some minute abrasions of the cuticle, but the livid tint, if they
ever had any, was not conspicuous at the time I saw the patient.
The pustule on the forefinger shews the disease in an earlier
stage. It did not actually appear on the hand of this young
woman, but was taken from that of another, and is annexed for the
purpose of representing the malady after it has newly appeared.

CASE XVII.--The more accurately to observe the progress of the
infection I selected a healthy boy, about eight years old, for
the purpose of inoculation for the cow-pox. The matter was taken
from a sore on the hand of a dairymaid [Footnote: From the sore
on the hand of Sarah Nelmes. See the preceding case.], who was
infected by her master's cows, and it was inserted, on the 14th
of May, 1796, into the arm of the boy by means of two superficial
incisions, barely penetrating the cutis, each about half an inch
long.

On the seventh day he complained of uneasiness in the axilla, and
on the ninth he became a little chilly, lost his appetite, and
had a slight headache. During the whole of this day he was
perceptibly indisposed, and spent the night with some degree of
restlessness, but on the day following he was perfectly well.

The appearance of the incisions in their progress to a state of
maturation were much the same as when produced in a similar
manner by variolous matter. The only difference which I perceived
was in the state of the limpid fluid arising from the action of
the virus, which assumed rather a darker hue, and in that of the
efflorescence spreading round the incisions, which had more of an
erysipelatous look than we commonly perceive when variolous
matter has been made use of in the same manner; but the whole
died away (leaving on the inoculated parts scabs and subsequent
eschars) without giving me or my patient the least trouble.

In order to ascertain whether the boy, after feeling so slight an
affection of the system from the cow--pox virus, was secure from
the contagion of the smallpox, he was inoculated the 1st of July
following with variolous matter, immediately taken from a
pustule. Several slight punctures and incisions were made on both
his arms, and the matter was carefully inserted, but no disease
followed. The same appearances were observable on the arms as we
commonly see when a patient has had variolous matter applied,
after having either the cow--pox or smallpox. Several months
afterwards he was again inoculated with variolous matter, but no
sensible effect was produced on the constitution.

Here my researches were interrupted till the spring of the year
1798, when, from the wetness of the early part of the season,
many of the farmers' horses in this neighbourhood were affected
with sore heels, in consequence of which the cow--pox broke out
among several of our dairies, which afforded me an opportunity of
making further observations upon this curious disease.

A mare, the property of a person who keeps a dairy in a
neighbouring parish, began to have sore heels the latter end of
the month of February, 1798, which were occasionally washed by
the servant men of the farm, Thomas Virgoe, William Wherret, and
William Haynes, who in consequence became affected with sores in
their hands, followed by inflamed lymphatic glands in the arms
and axillae, shiverings succeeded by heat, lassitude, and general
pains in the limbs. A single paroxysm terminated the disease; for
within twenty--four hours they were free from general
indisposition, nothing remaining but the sores on their hands.
Haynes and Virgoe, who had gone through the smallpox from
inoculation, described their feelings as very similar to those
which affected them on sickening with that malady. Wherret never
had had the smallpox. Haynes was daily employed as one of the
milkers at the farm, and the disease began to shew itself among
the cows about ten days after he first assisted in washing the
mare's heels. Their nipples became sore in the usual way, with
bluish pustules; but as remedies were early applied, they did not
ulcerate to any extent.

CASE XVIII.--John Baker, a child of five years old, was
inoculated March 16, 1798, with matter taken from a pustule on
the hand of Thomas Virgoe, one of the servants who had been
infected from the mare's heels. He became ill on the sixth day
with symptoms similar to those excited by cow--pox matter. On the
eighth day he was free from indisposition.

There was some variation in the appearance of the pustule on the
arm. Although it somewhat resembled a smallpox pustule, yet its
similitude was not so conspicuous as when excited by matter from
the nipple of the cow, or when the matter has passed from thence
through the medium of the human subject.

This experiment was made to ascertain the progress and subsequent
effects of the disease when thus propagated. We have seen that
the virus from the horge, when it proves infectious to the human
subject, is not to be relied upon as rendering the system secure
from variolous infection, but that the matter produced by it upon
the nipple of the cow is perfectly so. Whether its passing from
the horse through the human constitution, as in the present
instance, will produce a similar effect, remains to be decided.
This would mow have been effected, but the boy was rendered unit
for inoculation from having felt the effects of a contagious
fever in a workhouse soon after this experiment was made.

CASE XIX.--William Summers, a child of five years and a half old,
was inoculated the same day with Baker, with matter taken from
the nipples of one of the infected cows, at the farm alluded to.
He became indisposed on the sixth day, vomited once, and felt the
usual slight symptoms till the eighth day, when he appeared
perfectly well. The progress of the pustule, formed by the
infection of the virus, was similar to that noticed in Case XVII,
with this exception, its being free from the livid tint observed
in that instance.

CASE XX.-From William Summers the disease was transferred to
William Pead, a boy of eight years old, who was inoculated March
28th. On the sixth day he complained of pain in the axilla, and
on the seventh was affected with the common symptoms of a patient
sickening with the smallpox from inoculation, which did not
terminate till the third day after the seizure. So perfect was
the similarity to the variolous fever that I was induced to
examine the skin, conceiving there might have been some
eruptions, but none appeared. The efflorescent blush around the
part punctured in the boy's arm was so truly characteristic of
that which appears on variolous inoculation that I have given a
representation of it. The drawing was made when the pustule was
beginning to die away and the areola retiring from the centre.

CASE XXI.-April 5th: Several children and adults were inoculated
from the arm of William Pead. The greater part of them sickened
on the sixth day, and were well on the seventh, but in three of
the number a secondary indisposition arose in consequence of an
extensive erysipelatous inflammation which appeared on the
inoculated arms. It seemed to arise from the state of the
pustule, which spread out, accompanied with some degree of pain,
to about half the diameter of a sixpence. One of these patients
was an infant of half a year old. By the application of mercurial
ointment to the inflamed parts (a treatment recommended under
similar circumstances in the inoculated smallpox) the complaint
subsided without giving much trouble.

Hannah Excell, an healthy girl of seven years old, and one of the
patients above mentioned, received the infection from the
insertion of the virus under the cuticle of the arm in three
distinct points. The pustules which arose in consequence so much
resembled, on the twelfth day, those appearing from the infection
of variolous matter, that an experienced inoculator would
scarcely have discovered a shade of difference at that period.
Experience now tells me that almost the only variation which
follows consists in the pustulous fluids remaining limpid nearly
to the time of its total disappearance; and not, as in the direct
smallpox, becoming purulent.

CASE XXII.--From the arm of this girl matter was taken and
inserted April 12th into the arms of John Macklove, one year and
a half old, Robert F. Jenner, eleven months old, Mary Pead, five
years old, and Mary James, six years old. [Footnote: Perhaps a
few touches with the lapis septicus would have proved equally
efficacious.] Among these, Robert F. Jenner did not receive the
infection. The arms of the other three inflamed properly and
began to affect the system in the usual manner; but being under
some apprehensions from the preceding cases that a troublesome
erysipelas might arise, I determined on making an experiment with
the view of cutting off its source. Accordingly, after the
patients had felt an indisposition of about twelve hours, I
applied in two of these cases out of the three, on the vesicle
formed by the virus, a little mild caustic, composed of equal
parts of quick--lime and soap, and suffered it to remain on the
part six hours. [Footnote: What effect would a similar treatment
produce in inoculation for the smallpox?] It seemed to give the
children but little uneasiness, and effectually answered my
intention in preventing the appearance of erysipelas. Indeed, it
seemed to do more, for in half an hour after its application the
indisposition of the children ceased. These precautions were
perhaps unnecessary, as the arm of the third child, Mary Pead,
which was suffered to take its common course, scabbed quickly,
without any erysipelas.

CASE XXIII.--From this child's arm matter was taken and
transferred to that of J. Barge, a boy of seven years old. He
sickened on the eighth day, went through the disease with the
usual slight symptoms, and without any inflammation on the arm
beyond the common efflorescence surrounding the pustule, an
appearance so often seen in inoculated smallpox.

After the many fruitless attempts to give the smallpox to those
who had had the cow-pox, it did not appear necessary, nor was it
convenient to me, to inoculate the whole of those who had been
the subjects of these late trials; yet I thought it right to see
the effects of variolous matter on some of them, particularly
William Summers, the first of these patients who had been
infected with matter taken from the cow. He was, therefore,
inoculated with variolous matter from a fresh pustule; but, as in
the preceding cases, the system did not feel the effects of it in
the smallest degree. I had an opportunity also of having this boy
and William Pead inoculated by my nephew, Mr. Henry Jenner, whose
report to me is as follows: "I have inoculated Pead and Barge,
two of the boys whom you lately infected with the cow-pox. On the
second day the incisions were inflamed and there was a pale
inflammatory stain around them. On the third day these
appearances were still increasing and their arms itched
considerably. On the fourth day the inflammation was evidently
subsiding, and on the sixth day it was scarcely perceptible. No
symptom of indisposition followed.

"To convince myself that the variolous matter made use of was in
a perfect state I at the same time inoculated a patient with some
of it who never had gone through the cow-pox, and it produced the
smallpox in the usual regular manner."

These experiments afforded me much satisfaction; they proved that
the matter, in passing from one human subject to another, through
five gradations, lost none of its original properties, J. Barge
being the fifth who received the infection successively from
William Summers, the boy to whom it was communicated from the
cow.

I shall now conclude this inquiry with some general observations
on the subject, and on some others which are interwoven with it.

Although I presume it may be unnecessary to produce further
testimony in support of my assertion "that the cow--pox protects
the human constitution from the infection of the smallpox," yet
it affords me considerable satisfaction to say that Lord
Somerville, the President of the Board of Agriculture, to whom
this paper was shewn by Sir Joseph Banks, has found upon inquiry
that the statements were confirmed by the concurring testimony of
Mr. Dolland, a surgeon, who resides in a dairy country remote
from this, in which these observations were made. With respect to
the opinion adduced "that the source of the infection is a
peculiar morbid matter arising in the horse," although I have not
been able to prove it from actual experiments conducted
immediately under my own eye, yet the evidence I have adduced
appears sufficient to establish it.

They who are not in the habit of conducting experiments may not
be aware of the coincidence of circumstances necessary for their
being managed so as to prove perfectly decisive; nor how often
men engaged in professional pursuits are liable to interruptions
which disappoint them almost at the instant of their being
accomplished: however, I feel no room for hesitation respecting
the common origin of the disease, being well convinced that it
never appears among the cows (except it can be traced to a cow
introduced among the general herd which has been previously
infected, or to an infected servant) unless they have been milked
by some one who, at the same time, has the care of a horse
affected with diseased heels.

The spring of the year 1797, which I intended particularly to
have devoted to the completion of this investigation, proved,
from its dryness, remarkably adverse to my wishes;-for it
frequently happens, while the farmers' horses are exposed to the
cold rains which fall at that season, that their heels become
diseased, and no cow-pox then appeared in the neighbourhood.

The active quality of the virus from the horses' heels is greatly
increased after it has acted on the nipples of the cow, as it
rarely happens that the horse affects his dresser with sores, and
as rarely that a milkmaid escapes the infection when she milks
infected cows. It is most active at the commencement of the
disease, even before it has acquired a pus-like appearance;
indeed, I am not confident whether this property in the matter
does not entirely cease as soon as it is secreted in the form of
pus. I am induced to think it does cease [Footnote: It is very
easy to procure pus from old sores on the heels of horses. This I
have often inserted into scratches made with a lancet, on the
sound nipples of cows, and have seen no other effects from it
than simple inflamation.], and that it is the thin, darkish-
looking fluid only, oozing from the newly-formed cracks in the
heels, similar to what sometimes appears from erysipelatous
blisters, which gives the disease. Nor am I certain that the
nipples of the cows are at all times in a state to receive the
infection. The appearance of the disease in the spring and the
early part of the summer, when they are disposed to be affected
with spontaneous eruptions so much more frequently than at other
seasons, induces me to think that the virus from the horse must
be received upon them when they are in this state, in order to
produce effects: experiments, however, must determine these
points. But it is clear that when the cow-pox virus is once
generated, that the cows cannot resist the contagion, in whatever
state their nipples may chance to be, if they are milked with an
infected hand.

Whether the matter, either from the cow or the horse, will affect
the sound skin of the human body, I cannot positively determine;
probably it will not, unless on those parts where the cuticle is
extremely thin, as on the lips, for example. I have known an
instance of a poor girl who produced an ulceration on her lip by
frequently holding her finger to her mouth to cool the raging of
a cow-pox sore by blowing upon it. The hands of the farmers'
servants here, from the nature of their employments, are
constantly exposed to those injuries which occasion abrasions of
the cuticle, to punctures from thorns, and such like accidents;
so that they are always in a state to feel the consequence of
exposure to infectious matter.

It is singular to observe that the cow--pox virus, although it
renders the constitution unsusceptible of the variolous, should
nevertheless, leave it unchanged with respect to its own action.
I have already produced an instance [Footnote: See Case IX.] to
point out this, and shall now corroborate it with another.

Elizabeth Wynne, who had the cow-pox in the year 1759, was
inoculated with variolous matter, without effect, in the year
1797, and again caught the cow-pox in the year 1798. When I saw
her, which was on the eighth day after she received the
infection, I found her affected with general lassitude,
shiverings, alternating with heat, coldness of the extremities,
and a quick and irregular pulse. These symptoms were preceded by
a pain in the axilla. On her hand was one large pustulous sore,
which resembled that delineated in Plate No. I. (Plate appears in
original.)

It is curious also to observe that the virus, which with respect
to its effects is undetermined and uncertain previously to its
passing from the horse through the medium of the cow, should then
not only become more active, but should invariably and completely
possess those specific properties which induce in the human
constitution symptoms similar to those of the variolous fever,
and effect in it that peculiar change which for ever renders it
unsusceptible of the variolous contagion.

May it not then be reasonably conjectured that the source of the
smallpox is morbid matter of a peculiar kind, generated by a
disease in the horse, and that accidental circumstances may have
again and again arisen, still working new changes upon it until
it has acquired the contagious and malignant form under which we
now commonly see it making its devastations amongst us? And, from
a consideration of the change which the infectious matter
undergoes from producing a disease on the cow, may we not
conceive that many contagious diseases, now prevalent among us,
may owe their present appearance not to a simple, but to a
compound, origin? For example, is it difficult to imagine that
the measles, the scarlet fever, and the ulcerous sore throat with
a spotted skin have all sprung from the same source, assuming
some variety in their forms according to the nature of their new
combinations? The same question will apply respecting the origin
of many other contagious diseases which bear a strong analogy to
each other.

There are certainly more forms than one, without considering the
common variation between the confluent and distinct, in which the
smallpox appears in what is called the natural way. About seven
years ago a species of smallpox spread through many of the towns
and villages of this part of Gloucestershire: it was of so mild a
nature that a fatal instance was scarcely ever Heard of, and
consequently so little dreaded by the lower orders of the
community that they scrupled not to hold the same intercourse
with each other as if no infectious disease had been present
among them. I never saw nor heard of an instance of its being
confluent. The most accurate manner, perhaps, in which I can
convey an idea of it is by saying that had fifty individuals been
taken promiscuously and infected by exposure to this contagion,
they would have had as mild and light a disease as if they had
been inoculated with variolous matter in the usual way. The
harmless manner in which it shewed itself could not arise from
any peculiarity either in the season or the weather, for I
watched its progress upwards of a year without perceiving any
variation in its general appearance. I consider it then as a
variety of the smallpox. [Footnote: My friend, Dr. Hicks, of
Bristol, who, during the prevalence of this distemper, was
resident at Gloucester, and physician of the hospital there
(where it was soon after its first appearance in this country),
had opportunities of making numerous observations upon it, which
it is his intention to communicate to the public.].

In some of the preceding cases I have noticed the attention that
was paid to the state of the variolous matter previous to the
experiment of inserting it into the arms of those who had gone
through the cow-pox. This I conceived to be of great importance
in conducting these experiments, and, were it always properly
attended to by those who inoculate for the smallpox, it might
prevent much subsequent mischief and confusion. With the view of
enforcing so necessary a precaution I shall take the liberty of
digressing so far as to point out some unpleasant facts relative
to mismanagement in this particular, which have fallen under my
own observation.

A medical gentleman (now no more), who for many years inoculated
in this neighbourhood, frequently preserved the variolous matter
intended for his use on a piece of lint or cotton, which, in its
fluid state, was put into a vial, corked, and conveyed into a
warm pocket; a situation certainly favourable for speedily
producing putrefaction in it. In this state (not unfrequently
after it had been taken several days from the pustules) it was
inserted into the arms of his patients, and brought on
inflammation of the incised parts, swellings of the axillary
glands, fever, and sometimes eruptions. But what was this
disease? Certainly not the smallpox; for the matter having from
putrefaction lost or suffered a derangement in its specific
properties, was no longer capable of producing that malady, those
who had been inoculated in this manner being as much subject to
the contagion of the smallpox as if they had never been under the
influence of this artificial disease; and many, unfortunately,
fell victims to it, who thought themselves in perfect security.
The same unfortunate circumstance of giving a disease, supposed
to be the smallpox, with inefficacious variolous matter, having
occurred under the direction of some other practitioners within
my knowledge, and probably from the same incautious method of
securing the variolous matter, I avail myself of this opportunity
of mentioning what I conceive to be of great importance; and, as
a further cautionary hint, I shall again digress so far as to add
another observation on the subject of inoculation.

Whether it be yet ascertained by experiment that the quantity of
variolous matter inserted into the skin makes any difference with
respect to the subsequent mildness or violence of the disease, I
know not; but I have the strongest reason for supposing that if
either the punctures or incisions be made so deep as to go
through it and wound the adipose membrane, that the risk of
bringing on a violent disease is greatly increased. I have known
an inoculator whose practice was "to cut deep enough (to use his
own expression) to see a bit of fat." and there to lodge the
matter. The great number of bad cases, independent of
inflammations and abscesses on the arms, and the fatality which
attended this practice, was almost inconceivable; and I cannot
account for it on any other principle than that of the matter
being placed in this situation instead of the skin.

It was the practice of another, whom I well remember, to pinch up
a small portion of the skin on the arms of his patients and to
pass through it a needle, with a thread attached to it previously
dipped in variolous matter. The thread was lodged in the
perforated part, and consequently left in contact with the
cellular membrane. This practice was attended with the same ill
success as the former. Although it is very improbable that any
one would now inoculate in this rude way by design, yet these
observations may tend to place a double guard over the lancet,
when infants, whose skins are comparatively so very thin, fall
under the care of the inoculator.

A very respectable friend of mine, Dr. Hardwicke, of Sodbury, in
this county, inoculated great numbers of patients previous to the
introduction of the more modern method by Sutton, and with such
success that a fatal instance occurred as rarely as since that
method has been adopted. It was the doctor's practice to make as
slight an incision as possible upon the skin, and there to lodge
a thread saturated with the variolous matter. When his patients
became indisposed, agreeably to the custom then prevailing, they
were directed to go to bed and were kept moderately warm. Is it
not probable then that the success of the modern practice may
depend more upon the method of invariably depositing the virus in
or upon the skin, than on the subsequent treatment of the
disease?