Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1086

EDWARD JENNER (1749-1823) An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolae vaccinae, a disease . . . known by the name of the cow pox. Printed for the author by S. Low 1798 iv, 75 pp., 4 col. plates. 26.8 cm.

On the basis of an old country tradition that milkmaids who had contracted cowpox were not susceptible to smallpox, Jenner, an English country physician, decided to experiment by injecting cowpox-infected lymph into a local boy. After inoculation the boy was found to be immune to smallpox and Jenner continued his experiments. In 1798 he published the present epochal work, the results of a long and successful series of case histories. By 1803 his work had been translated into numerous languages and his method of immunization was taken up with amazing speed, becoming almost universally adopted. Garrison has called Jenner's work "one of the greatest triumphs in the history of medicine" (Fielding H. Garrison, An introduction to the history of medicine. 4th ed. Philadelphia, 1929. p. 372). It is the foundation of all subsequent work in immunology and virology.

See Related Record(s): 1087

Cited references: Cushing J42; Garrison-Morton 4523; Osler 1251; Waller 5136; Wellcome III, p. 351

Gift of John Martin, M.D.