INOCULATION MADE EASY, &c.
[5]THE fatal Conſequences which in general attend that loath⯑ſome and very dangerous Diſtemper, the SMALL POX, the dreadful Havock it has made, from Time to Time, amongſt Mankind has induced ſeveral humane, learned, and able Men, to uſe their utmoſt Endeavours to find out a Method to render this alarmîng Diſorder more mild and favourable. INOCULATION was then thought on. The Greeks are ſaid to be the firſt Nation that practiſed this Method; the Turks are ſuppoſed to have borrowed it from them, and practiſed it with the greateſt Succeſs, not only for the Small Pox, but even for the Plague itſelf. The frequent Accounts we had of their great Succeſs in almoſt putting a total Stop to the Fata⯑lity of this ſore Diſtemper, induced us to follow their Example; but, however this may be, it was practiſed by us at firſt with no very conſiderable Succeſs, yet it proved much more favourable in its Effects than the natural Kind. This occaſioned ſeveral others to attempt a ſtill farther Improvement, and has from Time to Time, been brought to a ſtill greater Degree of Perfection, ſo that out of an Hundred Patients, perhaps only Two or Three have loſt their Lives; tho' a great Part of them have had the Diſtemper in a very ſore and terrible Manner. But by the Aſſiſtance of an Almighty Providence we have now brought it to the very utmoſt and greateſt Degree of Perfection imaginable; ſo that in fact it now ceaſes to be any longer [6]a Diſtemper; for what can be a greater Proof, what can aſcertain the Excellency of this new Method more than the plain and con⯑vincing Demonſtrations we have now before our Eyes, and the Thouſands of living Witneſſes to prove it? for Nine Thouſand People or more, who have been inoculated, (within Thirty Miles round the Town of Chelmsford in Eſſex, and within the Space of theſe two laſt Years) not a Single Patient has loſt his Life; and what is ſtill more extraordinary, they have had this Diſtemper in ſo mild and favourable a Manner, that the greater Part of them have been capable of carrying on their Trades and Buſineſs during the whole Time, not being confined by it one Hour to their Bed or Room; except out of a Complement to thoſe who have not had it, and would be fearful of catching it from them, may have induced ſome to keep up a few Days, but not from the Effect of the Diſtem⯑per. This Method has alſo theſe ſeveral Advantages with it; viz. That it has been tried and anſwers with all Ages and Complexions, on every Conſtitution; the robuſt and infirm, the black and the fair, the corpulent and the lean; and in each extreme Seaſon of the Year, the Summer and the Winter. Nor has it failed in any one Inſtance; the Patient being ſubject to very ſlight Symptoms, ſenſible of very little Sickneſs; nor do what few Eruptions they have, ever leave any Scars or Pits behind them.
I think it unneceſſary to ſay any thing farther in Behalf of this excellent Method of recovering the Diſtemper. Therefore ſhall immediately proceed to lay before my Readers the Manner and Me⯑dicines, which will anſwer all thoſe extraordinary Virtues above mentioned.
Firſt, As to the Manner of preparing the Body to receive the Infection.—But as the Preparation is material, and of ſome Im⯑portance, I hope no one, who intends to be inoculated, will be ſo far an Enemy to themſelves, as not to be ſtrictly careful and atten⯑tive to the Rules here laid down; which are meant to lower the Blood and Humours, and render the Body ſufficiently prepared to receive the Infection in the moſt favourable Manner.
You muſt abſtain from all Salt Proviſions whatever, nor muſt you eat any Kind of Meat or Butter; nor drink Beer or Spirituous Liquors, not even Wine; Cheeſe and ſpiced Foods are likewiſe prejudicial.— [7]But to make it more clear, I have ſet down a Regimen, or Method of preparing, which muſt be continued and perſevered in for Nine Days at leaſt, and is as follows:
Directions for preparing for Inoculation.
The DIET for BREAKFAST.
Tea, Coffee, or Chocolate, with dry Toaſt, or ordinary Cake; Rice-Milk: Milk-Gruel: Skimmed Milk, Honey and Bread, &c.
For DINNER.
Plumb or Plain Pudding with Vinegar Sauce, which is made by adding Sugar and Vinegar to a proper Quantity of boiled Flour and Water: Rice-Pudding: Apple-Pudding: Apple-Pye: Rice-Milk: Frumenty: And the Productions of the Kitchen-Garden, with the Uſe of Salt.
For SUPPER.
Any of the above Spoon Meats: Roaſted Potatoes: Turnips, &c. But, if it can be complied with, going to Bed Supperleſs, and to eat ſparingly even at other Meals, will be moſt proper; and, as obſerved above, abſtain from all Fleſh, Butter, Cheeſe, and Spiced Food. Moſt Kind of Fruits may be eaten at pleaſure, except on the Phyſical Days.
DRINK.
In common it may be Toaſt and Water, Milk and Water, Lemon and Water, or Imperial Water; abſtaining from all ſpirituous, vinous, and malt Liquors. Moderate Exerciſe withal is neceſſary.
Directions for taking the Preparative Powders.
After having ſtrictly obſerved the foregoing Rules for Nine Days, you muſt take one of the Papers of Powders at Bed-Time, in the Pulp of a roaſted Apple, or any Jelly, and next Morning a Paper of the Salts, diſſolved in a little boiling Water, drinking plentifully of Water-Gruel, Cheeſe-Whey, or Small Tea, as they work. The Patient ſhould be very careful of Cold, during the Operation of [8]the Phyſic; and if it does not operate Six or Eight Times in about Six Hours, it will be neceſſary to take half another Paper of the Salts, (more or leſs as Occaſion requires). Or if they be vomited up ſhortly after being taken, as ſoon as the Sickneſs is entirely off, one of the other Papers of Salts muſt be given. The other Powders and Salts are to be taken as above, omitting Three Days between each Doſe. The Deficiency of Salts may be had at an Apothecary's: It will be requiſite for the Patient to have a Stool on each of the intermediate Days during the Preparation, in order to which Stew'd Prunes, Roaſted Apples, or Tamarinds, ſhould be eaten occaſionally.
I ſhall now inform my Reader how to make every Medicine to be uſed throughout the Diſorder, and firſt the PREPARATIVE POWDERS are as follows.
Take ten Grains of Calomel and one Grain of factitious Cinnabar, and mix them well together for one Doſe.
A Child of ſix Years old may take a fourth part of a Paper; from eight Years old to twelve half a Paper, and from twelve Years old to fifty a whole Paper; from ſixty Years old to an hundred half a Paper; be careful not to omit taken the Salts in the Morning as before ordered; the Salts are Glauber's Salts. A grown Perſon may take from half an Ounce to an Ounce, Children half an Ounce only: Theſe POWDERS greatly cleanſe the Blood, are not only very effec⯑tual to prepare the Body for the Small-Pox; but may alſo be depend⯑ed upon as a never failing Remedy for Worms, as it ſcours away thoſe roped viſcid Humours which are apt to breed them in the Bowels; they may be taken with the greateſt Safety by Men, Women and Children, obſerving the above Rules: they are good likewiſe in Cutaneous Diſ⯑orders, ſuch as Foulneſs of the Skin, or Sores or Ulcers, and teterous Eruptions, the Itch and Leproſy; and thoſe who are unwilling to be Inoculated, yet fearful of catching the Small-Pox, in the natural Way, may in a great Meaſure, be ſecured from it by taking the above POWDERS, for it Purifies the Blood in ſuch a Manner as to render it leſs liable to the receive the Infection. Or if the Diſtemper ſhould be caught after taking the POWDERS, the Patient may depend upon having it in a more favourable Manner. Theſe POWDERS are alſo very valu⯑able [9]as a Common Purge in the Spring of the Year, but Salts muſt in all Caſes be taken after them. Obſerve, that when Children from two to five Years old are to be Inoculated, it will not be proper to give them the POWDER, but inſtead of which you muſt give them a Dram of Manna diſſolved in warm Milk or Water, repeat it each Day, and continue it for a Week or ten Days, at the End of which time you may Inoculate them.
After the Patient has ſufficiently prepared himſelf by ſtrictly follow⯑ing the Directions for the Regimen; that is, having Dieted himſelf one Week, and the next Week dieting as before, and taken his POW⯑DERS, he is now fit for Inoculation, which is very eaſily perform'd as follows: You muſt get ſome Matter out of a Ripe Pock upon the Point of a Needle, ſharp-top Pen-knife, or Launcet, and with any of theſe Inſtruments (having the freſh Matter on its point) you muſt make a ſmall Inciſion or Prick on the Arm, between the Elbow and the Shoulder; you need only make the ſmalleſt Drop of Blood appear, and wiping the mattery Part of the Inſtrument on the Place, 'tis done. In about four or five Days the Inoculated Part will grow a little red; in a few Days more it will riſe to a Kind of Puſtule ha⯑ving Matter in it; after which it decreaſes and goes away of itſelf. Several of my Patients have only had this Eruption, and no other Appearance of the Small-Pox upon them; but it is as effectual as having a large Number of Puſtules. In about ſix or ſeven Days af⯑ter the Inoculation, the Patient ſometimes feels a Kind of a ſlight Pain in the Inoculated Arm, in his Back and Head, but all thoſe Symptoms ſoon go off. About five Days after the Inoculation, the Patient (if of a robuſt groſs Habit of Body) muſt at Night, going to Bed, take one of the Repellent Pills; if it operates but little, take an⯑other in the Morning; if that ſhould have no conſiderable Effect, take two more Pills again at Night; on the contrary take only one, the remainder to be taken the next Morning. The Intention of theſe Pills are to carry off the Matter which would occaſion Eruptions. The Pills are made as follows†
[8]The REPELLENT PILL.
[10]Take ten Grains of Kermes Mineral*, twenty Grains of the beſt Succotrine Aloes, and ten Grains of Camphor, add a ſufficient quantity of Spirits of Wine to make them into a Maſs for Pills, which is done by beating them together in a Mortar; of this Com⯑poſition make four Pills.
N. B. You muſt firſt pound the Camphor with a few drops of Spirits of Wine, then mix the other Ingredients.
Some few have a ſlight Fever at the time of breeding the Pock, thoſe are deſired to drink plentifully of the following Decoction, or Punch, as it is termed in Eſſex.
The Patient may have it made, or make it himſelf, the Effects of which is to carry off the Fever. The Receipt is as follows.
Take unground Oats a Handful, and boil them for ſome time in a Quart of Spring-Water, then ſtrain it, with which mix half an Ounce of Stibiated Nitre, half an Ounce of Citron, or Lemon-Juice, and an Ounce and half of the Sirup of Violets. About ſix or ſeven Days after Inoculation this Liquor ſhould be drank very plentifully, as it tends from its cooling Quality to carry off every Symptom of the Fever.—[The Ingredients may be had at any Apothecary's; nor muſt the Patient be without it.]
But to make this uſeful Liquor more cheap and eaſy to the Poor, I have ſet down another Method of making of it, which in a great Meaſure will anſwer all the Intentions of the firſt, and is as follows.
Boil a Handful of Oats in a Quart of Spring-Water, add to it after it is ſtrain'd, half an Ounce of Salt-Petre; ſharpen this Liquor with a little Lemon Juice or Vinegar, and ſweeten it to the Palate with brown Sugar or Honey.
This will not be ſo pleaſant as the firſt Method of making it, tho' almoſt as effectual; by drinking plentifully of this the Fever will be almoſt immediately lowered: The firſt taking of it ſhould be to drink half a Pint, or more at going to Bed at Night.
I have now gone through the whole Progreſs of the Cure, and if all the Rules here laid down are ſtrictly attended to, the Patient may de⯑pend upon having the Diſtemper in the moſt favourable manner.
[11]The great Succeſs which in general attends this Method of Ino⯑culation is no ways ſurpriſing; nor need we wonder at ſo many dying with it that have it in the Natural Way; for when we come to conſider, that while the contagious Matter is exerting its Malig⯑nity upon the Humours, (which is generally ſeven or eight Days) Quietneſs, Moderation in Diet, together with cleanſing Medicines, and every thing elſe is ſtrictly obſerved in Inoculation; whereas ma⯑ny incur the Natural Diſtemper on a ſudden, when the Blood is heated with Wine and Exerciſe, by which means all the Symptoms muſt neceſſarily prove more ſevere and dangerous.
I would alſo obſerve, that I do not pretend to perſuade the Public, that all the Inoculators in Eſſex make uſe of theſe Medicines exactly as here ſet down, or that all of them make uſe of the ſame Com⯑poſitions: I only ſay that the greateſt Succeſs may be depended upon from a proper uſe of theſe Medicines, they having all that Virtue comprehended in them, which is neceſſary to render the Diſorder mild and favourable, as I have happily experienced by the Number of Patients, who have recovered from this Diſtemper without being confined to their Bed or ſcarce ſenſible of any Pain.
I ſhall conclude this Treatiſe with ſome few Cautions to thoſe who take the Medicines. Thoſe of a very weak and delicate Conſtitution, may prepare with taking only half a Paper of the POWDERS at a time with the Salts, and go on till all the Papers are taken. In caſe the POWDERS ſhould cauſe the Mouth to water, or an Inclination to Spitting, (which I never knew happen in the Courſe of my Practice) upon ſuch an occaſion, the Patient muſt take larger Doſes of Salts, and about an Hour after take near half an Ounce of Flour of Brim⯑ſtone, which will prove an effectual Remedy. Be careful of the Subject which you Inoculate from, that it be a mild and favourable Sort, and that the Perſon is free from any other Diſtemper. The Patient, as I have before obſerved, muſt the firſt Week prepare by Diet, &c. the next Week prepare to take the POWDERS, (living as by Direction above) then Inoculate, and upon breeding the Pock, drink plentifully of the Punch before mentioned, and the Patient will find this Method anſwer his moſt ſanguine Wiſhes.
N. B. In about a Week after the Small-Pox is quite over, it would be neceſſary for the Patient to loſe a little Blood, and take a Doſe of Salts.