Supplement to the 'Madrid Gazette,' of the 14th October, 1806 / [Francisco Xavier de Balmis].

  • Balmis, Francisco Xavier de, 1753-1819 or 1820.
Date:
[1807?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Supplement to the 'Madrid Gazette,' of the 14th October, 1806 / [Francisco Xavier de Balmis]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    1/4
    f X. |xo9*/f c SUPPLEMENT TO THE MADRID GAZETTE, O F THE 14th OCTOBER, 1806. ON Sunday, the 7th of September last, Dr. Francis Xavier Balmis, Surgeon Extraordinary to the King, had the honour of kissing his Majesty’s hand, on occasion of his return from a voyage round the world, executed with the sole object of carrying to all the posses¬ sions of the Crown of Spain, situated beyond the seas, and to those of several other nations, the inestimable gift of Vaccine Inoculation. His Majesty has inquired, with the liveliest interest, into all that ma¬ terially related to the expedition, and learned, with the utmost satis¬ faction, that it’s result-has exceeded the most sanguine expectations that were entertained at the time of the enterprize. This undertaking had been committed to the diligence of several Members of the Faculty, and subordinate persons, carrying with them twenty-two children, who had never undergone the Small-pox', se¬ lected for the preservation of the precious fluid, by transmitting it suc¬ cessively from one to another, during the course of the voyage. The expedition set sail from Corunna, under the direction of Balmis, on the 30th November, 1803. It made the first stoppage at the Canary Islands, the second at Porto-Rico, and the third at the Caracas. On leaving that province, by the port of La Guayra, it was divided into two branches: one part sailing to South America, under the charge of the Subdirector Don Francis Salvani; the other, with the Director Balmis on board, steering for the Havanah, and thence for Yucatan. There a subdivision took place : the Professor Francis Pastor proceeding from the port of Sisal, to that of Villa Hermosa, in the province of To- basca, for the purpose of propagating Vaccination in the district of Ciudad Real of Chiapa, and on to Goatemala, making a circuit of four hundred leagues, through a long and rough road, comprising Oaxaca; while the rest of the expedition, which arrived without ac¬ cident at Veracruz, traversed not only the Vice-royalty of New Spain, but also the interior provinces; whence it was to return to Mexico, which was the point of re-union.