Note 9 — III.

As there has lately been some difference amongst the medical men of Europe as to the utility of vaccination, the following observations from the report of Dr. Wawra, the principal physician on board the Caroline, regarding the appearance and the course of this epidemic, may not be out of place:—"A day before our departure from Trieste a man complained of a slight fever and headache, and his skin was covered with spots which were judged at once to be indications of an approaching eruption of small-pox. The man was immediately sent on shore as a matter of precaution; but, nevertheless, eight days after our departure we had a second, and ten days after that a third case: the epidemic was on board, and though in a mild form, yet serious consequences were apprehended. The re-vaccination of the men was therefore decided upon, and carried out, as far as the virus on board would admit. Only five individuals of the whole had not been vaccinated at all; some had undergone the operation in their childhood, a great part of them, however, had been vaccinated on board other vessels, from two to five years before. Only fourteen cases occurred. Most remarkable, and evidently in favour of those who advocate re-vaccination, is the fact, that amongst most of those who had been vaccinated in their childhood, the disorder was more severe than among those who had been re-vaccinated on board the ship. Among those who had never undergone the operation before, the vaccination on board was most successful; not one of them caught the disorder. Among the re-vaccinated only four cases occurred, with slighter symptoms than among those who had been once only operated upon. We met with several instances of the kind at other places where we touched. At Buenos Ayres, where the vaccination laws are stricter than anywhere else, the small-pox is extremely rare. Among the Brazilians, who entertain an absolute prejudice against vaccination, the variola is one of the most common and most frightful diseases. It prevails still worse amongst the negro slaves, among whom, from the ignorance and prejudice of their masters, vaccination is neglected. The white marks of the disease are particularly visible in the black skin, and are evident proofs how virulently it has raged amongst them."