Address of H. M. Alexander, M.D : before the fourth pharmaceutical meeting of the College of Pharmacy, Philadelphia, Pa., January 16, 1894 ; vaccine virus.

  • Alexander, Hamill Marr, 1851?-1903.
Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address of H. M. Alexander, M.D : before the fourth pharmaceutical meeting of the College of Pharmacy, Philadelphia, Pa., January 16, 1894 ; vaccine virus. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    Address of H- M- Alexander, |VL D., .—/ Before the Fourth Pharmaceutical Meeting of the College 01 Pharmacy, Philadelphia, Pa., January 16, 1894. % Vaccine Virus. Nearly a century has elapsed since Dr. Edward Jenner, the discoverer of Vaccine Virus, inoculated his first patient, and proved to the world the efficacy of his theory of vaccination, as the preventative of that dreaded disease, small-pox. As has always been the fate of every new theory, invention, or innovation in its infancy, Vaccine Virus met, for a time, with violent opposition, yet the learned Jenner lived to be feted in the streets of London, his path being strewn with flowers, and was finally tendered a testimonial of ten thousand pounds, by an Act of Parliament, in recognition of the great boon he gave to mankind. Hut important discoveries are slow to adoption, and owing to bigotry and superstition, are seldom appreciated fully in the age of the discoverer. The evolution of Vaccine Virus was, then, necessarily slow. Great difficulty was experienced in procuring Vaccine fromfk? animal, ?.nd the use of the crust, taken from one person and applied to another, which is known Humanized Virus, or Vaccine, was adopted. This method was continued for many years, when it was discovered that a great number of diseases, especially skin diseases, and the most vulgar ones to which the human system is heir, were being conveyed from arm to arm. DEGENERATED HUMANIZED VIRUS. ■We shall pass over the history of the period which elapsed from the beginning of the Nineteenth Century until the propagation was begun in America in 1870, for the history of this period, as we glean it from the writings of many authorities, is very conflicting. Its efficacy as a protective agent was thoroughly proven in many instances, while there were others that left some doubts as to its ability to protect against the dread disease, small-pox. Our own experience has forced us to believe that these great deficiencies in protective power were largely due to the fact that Humanized Virus was much used, which in these cases ot failure had greatly degenerated. SOURCES OF AMERICAN PROPAGATION. Whether true cow-pox was found among the cattle frequently prior to 1866 is not certain, but in that year a case was found in Beaugency, France, and it was from this strain that Bovine Virus was imported into America, and its propagation from heifer to heifer introduced into the United States in 1870, by the late Dr. Henry A. Martin. In the decade which followed, the propagation of Vaccine Virus was begun in various sections of the country. The methods employed', however, were of the crudest nature, and much of the propagation of a dangerous character. In many instances, propagation is still carried on in unclean stables, located in filthy city alleys, where the Virus produced is of necessity subjected to dangerous contamination of the surrounding filth; the cattle are usually procured from city stock yards—generally heifers—but very frequently decrepit, old cows, that have shown some organic weakness. Only an external examination of them can be made, and naturally 1N0CULATI0H VACCINATIOU j Eampfitel