VACCINATION
Proved Useless
&
Dangerous
FROM FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF
REGISTRATION STATISTICS.
ALFRED
R.
WALLACE,
LL.D.
I
TO MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
AND OTHERS.
years
Forty-five
of
Registration Statistics,
proving Vaccination
to be both useless and
dangerous.
In Two
Parts.
BY
ALFRED
R.
WALLACE,
LL.D.
SECOND EDITION.
WITH CORRECTIONS, NOTES, AND AN APPENDIX.
By
ALEXANDER WHEELER.
Condon
E.
W. ALLEN,
4
Ave
1889.
i
Maria Lane.
;
Forty-five years of
Statistics.
Registration
PART
I.
Small-pox Mortality and Vaccination.
T T
AVING
^ ^
as
been
the
to
enquire
to
myself
for
Vaccination
of
effects
Small-pox,
diminishing
or
preventing
led
in
have
I
arrived at results as unexpected as they appear
me
to
which
to
affects
health
the
make
our
and
the truth
even
on the
statements,
have
I
four
the
known
those who,
vaccination
personal
faith
lives
now
statements of
all,
to
as
is
one
well
as
thousands
of
endeavour to
and especially
to
of false or misleading
enforced
by penal
propose
to
question
liberty
becomes a duty
therefore
it
The
be conclusive.
the
practice
of
laws.
to
fact,
establish
the
following
by means of the only
FORTY-FIVE
4
official
statistics
YEARS OF
which are available
adopt a mode of presenting those
;
and
I
shall
statistics
as
render them intelligible to
a whole, which will
These statements are
(i.)
That during the forty-five years
of
Registration
deaths
and
their
all.
—
Small-pox mortality has very
an
while
exceedingly
demic occurred
the
causes,
slightly diminished,
Small-pox
severe
within
of the
twelve
last
epi-
years
of the period.
(2.)
the
—'That
there
decrease
slight
no evidence to show that
is
of
Small-pox
mortality
is
due to vaccination.
(3.)
— That
the
severity
of
Small-pox
as
a
disease has not been mitigated by vaccination.
(4.)
—That
increased
to
inoculable
several
an
alarming
diseases
extent
have
coincidently
with enforced vaccination.
The
first,
second, and fourth propositions will
be proved from the Registrar-General's Reports
and I shall make the
from 1838 to 1882
by presenting
results clear and indisputable,
;
the
figures
for
the whole
period
in
the
form
of diagrammatic curves, so that no manipulation
of them, by taking certain years for comparison,
or by dividing the period in special ways, will
be
possible.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in
2015
https://archive.org/details/b2136140x
DIAGRAM
Deaths
in
London perMillion
Lont-rluie Sma// Pox.
1.
Living from Small Pox and from the Chief otherZymotic Diseases except Cholera.
SotUd LineTypTui-s
Upper Line ZyjnctzcDUcases.
'
<S-t>.
DIAGR;?fl
11.
Deaths m England and Wales per Million
LowrLiM
xfcDmdu
S^rwU
Living from Small Pox and from the Chief other Zymotic Diseases except
Chole
IIMal. J.ine, OPtlcicd TaccwMioru
Upprr Luj^. Zymallc. Viscoses.
Pm
Mil
WOO
'WOO
7
350C
3SOO
\
300P
7
-
—
\
-4
\
\
/\
30np
1
/
\
1
/
\
/
\
1
\
\
/
1
.•/rn
JSl'C
/'iPO
mac
wno
SCO
jOO
\
IN
Xl
L
ur-a
NOTE,
i
\
a mp
>.
or^
1
\
to
y/.o 71
riu OPfi/:M Vaccination, line is per 100000 of tfie, livinyj
Pci>,ir.a.iun
P
tl
In
c
5c
•>
—
REGISTRATION
The diagrams show,
but
mortaHty
absolute
STATISTICS,
each
in
5-
miUion
per
deaths
the
the
not
case,
method which eHminates the increase
of population and gives true comparative results
Hving, a
Vaccination has not diminished Small- pox.
Diagram
exhibits^ the deaths from Small-
I.
pox, in London, for
every year from
an upper
1882, while
the
exhibits
line
1838
to
deaths
from the other principal zymotic diseases given
in the Registrar- General's Annual Summary for
1882, (except Cholera, which
epidemic,) namely,
these shows
Typhoid
the
other
A
dotted line between
mortality
from fevers of the
class, t
first
thing clearly apparent in this diagram,
of
diminution
small
very
the
is
— Scarlet fever and Diphtheria,
and Diarrhoea.
The
only an occasional
Whooping Cough, Typhoid and
Measles,
fevers,
is
Small-pox
In this Edition
in the First Edition stopped at 1882.
which
these later
the
text,
variation
of
without
added
years
are
the later
Complaint has been made of this presentment.
years do but accentuate.
*
The Diagrams
It is the
most accurate that can be made.
manner
in such a
obscm-es
the
epidemic nature of
characteristic featiu'e.
adopted.
The
The
No
tiater
the
method of averaging
favorite
as to take all the sharp lines
disease
from the curves,
of
Small-pox,
line of official vaccinations includes,
for 1884-5-6,
which have not been given since 1872, or the
be much more pronounced for these years. Ed.
f
From
the Registrar-General's Annual
Table 23,
p.
xxv.
totally
great
presentment than that chosen can be
re-vaccinations,
London, 1882.
its
Summary
fall
of Deaths,
official
would
etc.,
iii
FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF
6
corresponding widi
compulsory vaccination
1
was
87 1
mortality from the
period,
the whole
in
diminution of Small-pox
first to
the second half of the
per
deaths
57
is
epidemic of
the
while
;
and
penal
of
most destructive
tlie
The average
period.
epochs
die
annum.
per
million
we
Looking now
at
the
from the chief zymotic diseases
mortality
has
decreased,*
also
the last
35
diseases
is
to
the
the upper
fact
considerably
years
not,
that
;
more
but the
the
in
during
decrease of
from
deaths
that
see
especially
proportionally, so
increased
On
curve,
these
owing
great,
have
Diarrhoea
latter
half
of
Typhus and
Typhoid fevers have diminished to a much
greater extent than Small-pox, as shown by
the
period.
the
dotted
line
other
the
on
diagram, the
the
mortality from this cause
million,
or
from
that
more than
Small-pox.
hand.
alone being
six
times
as
Every one
reduced
382
much
will
per
as
admit
that this remarkable decrease of Typhus,i' &c.,
* From 1838 to 1853, the average Small-pox death-rate exceeded that of
But the average of the
the years 1854 to 1867 by 229 per million living.
per
years 1868 to 1886, exceeded that of the years 1854 to 1867 by 46
million.
Typhus, Enteric, and Fever, 1871-80, were less by
t The deaths from
The years i88i to 1S86
the ten preceding years.
in
than
million
per
540
show a furtlier reduction, as compared with 1871 to 1880, of 125 per million
living.
— Ed.
REGISTRATION STATISTICS.
due
is
more
to
to
But
treatment.
more
to
also
probably
and
health,
of
laws
the
greater
sanitation,
efficient
attention
personal
7
methods
rational
of
these causes of amelioration
all
on Small-pox;
have certainly had their effect
disease has
and as the mortality from that
probably some
equally diminished, there is
not
So
counteracting cause at work.
from there being any proof
Small-pox
diminished
has
far,
therefore,
vaccination
that
the
London,
in
(and
tendency of the Registrar-General's facts,
trustworthy,)
there are no other facts which are
that some counteracting cause has
show
to
is
general
prevented
as
disease
this
it
sanitation
has acted on Typhus,
that cause may, possibly, be vaccination
We
gives
will
a
now
turn
Diagram
to
of
representation
similar
England and Wales,* except
there
is
on
acting
from
and
itself.
II.,
which
for
statistics
that unfortunately
a blank in the record for
1843-46, in
which years the Registrar- General informs us,
"the causes of death were not distinguished."
Here
too
we
perceive
a
similar
decrease
in
Small-pox mortality, broken by the tremendous
epidemic
zymotic
*
From
of
187 1-2,
diseases
while
represented
the Registrar-General's
the
by
Annual Report, 1882.
chief
other
the
higher
Table 32,
p. xliii.
8
FORTY-FIVE
show more
line,
recent
the
(but
no reason
pox
to
than
we
and
for
us
a
the
of
Typhus
of
again,
in
Small-
may go
for
we
further
directly
have>
testing
The
of vaccination.
efficacy
Small-
therefore,
statement,
for
Typhoid
that
curve
have,
means
as
more than
far
But we
negative
fortunately,
England,
imputing the decrease
vaccination.
this
alleged
show
clearness
for
but a considerable
all
decreased
omitted,)
is
For
tables
have
fevers
pox,
irregularity,
decrease.
London,
YEARS OF
the
eleventh
Annual Report of the Local Government Board
gives a table of the number of successful
vaccinations,
at
the expense of the Poor Rate,
England and Wales,
in
From
from
the figures of this table
1852
1881.
to
have calculated
I
the numbers in proportion to the population of
each year, and have exhibited the result in the
dotted line on
my Diagram
II.;
beg
the
attention,
at
to
direct
once
reader's
some
dispels
and
oft-repeated
to
this
since
I
it
erroneous
statements."^
In
the
first
place
we
see
* I have examined every Report of the Local
that,
instead
Government Board, with
the intention of giving the total vaccinations for the whole period embraced
in this
Diagram
II.
But the
total vaccinations are not tabulated,
only given in the text for the years since 1872.
Hence
and
are
the official
vaccinations only appear here, with such vaccinations as are tabulated.
Ed.
.9
REGISTRATION STATISTICS.
of
enforcement
of
penal
diminished
so
that
made by
;
increased
havino-
vaccination
laws,
has
statement
the
actually
often
so
and
for vaccination,
apologists
official
it
the
since
Lyon Playfair in his speech
Commons, June, 1883, that the
repeated by Sir
to the
—
House of
of
progressive
efficiency
diminished
Small- pox,
an
has
there
sijzce
*
It
curious
is
the
ignorant
of
efficiency
since the
1880,
p.
that
fact
even
that,
says
rather
Registrar-General
the
official
vaccination has
— " These
tmtriie,
vaccination!'
penal laws came into force.
he
xxii.,
decrease
" efficient
figiu-es
has
vaccination
absolutely
is
a
been
of
increase
legal
show
A
*
to
be
increased
in
appears
not
In
than
his
Report for
conclusively
that,
with the gradual extension of the practice oj vaccination,
there has been a gradual and notable decline in the mortality from
coincidenily
As, however, there has not been shown to
Small-pox at all ages."
have been any such "gi-adual extension of the practice of vaccination,"
but, so far as official records go, just the reverse, the whole argument
falls to
the ground
!
It is trae that this
curve does not exhibit the numbers
of the vaccinated population, which there
Mr. Marson,
is
no means of arriving
at.
the Siu-geon of the Small-pox Hospital, told the Select
—
answer 4,190: "The public are pretty largely
vaccinated now, and will be more so every year, I should think as time
There is one point which has not been very cleaily brought
goes on.
forward this morning, and that is the increase of Small-pox after vaccination
When I first went to the hospital, 35 years since, from
year after year.
the admission of patients into the Small-pox hospital was
1835
44 per cent, of Small-pox after vaccination; from 1845 to 1855, 64 per
cent. ; from 1855 to 1865, 78 per cent. ; and during 1863 and 1864, S3
and 84 per cent. Those are patients who have been vaccinated." The
line of official vaccination in the diagi-am, shows that Mr. Marson was
mistaken as to the amount of public vaccination, and that it was a larger
incidence of Small-pox among the vaccinated he was witnessing ; not the
Committee,
1871,
result of extension of vaccination.
—Ep,
YEARS OF
FORTY-FIVE
lO
temporary
increase
number
the
in
of
vacci-
always takes place during an epidemic
nations
when an epidemic
of Small-pox, or
feared
is
;
but an examination of the curve of vaccination
does not support the statement that
the
epidemic.
be
seen
a
On
on
that
considerable
by an
followed
the
reader
that
in
at
1863 there was
in
vaccinations
was
of
Small-pox.
Let
and
Diagram,
the
will
it
occasions
separate
three
increase
look
inspection
careful
increase
checks
it
a very great
note
number
of vaccinations, followed in 1864 by an increase
in
Again, the number of
Small-pox mortality.
steadily rose
vaccinations
from
1866 to
1869,
yet in 1870-71 Small-pox mortahty increased
;
and
1876 an increase in vaccinations
was followed by an increase of Small-pox deaths.
yet
In
again, in
if
fact,
instead
prove
the
showed inoculation
dotted line
might
of
vaccination,
it
that
inoculation
caused
Small-pox.
I
only
maintain,
an
used
to
increase
of
be
however,
that
it
does not prove that vaccination diminishes the
During the panic
from the disease.
caused by the great epidemic of 187 1-2, vacci-
mortality
nations rose enormously, and declined as rapidly
the moment the epidemic passed away, but there
is
nothing whatever to show that the increased
—
REGISTRATION STATISTICS.
vaccinations had any effect on the disease, which
ran
and
course
its
died
then
Hke other
out
epidemics.
the only complete
now been proved from
has
It
series of official records that exist
(i.)
much
(2.)
— That
or so steadily as
—That
with
coincides
mortality
Typhus and
a
so
allied fevers.
Small-pox
of
diminution
the
decreased
not
Small-pox has
:
instead
diminished,
of an increased efficiency of official vaccination.
(3.)
of
—That
one of the most severe epidemics
Small-pox on
accurate
official,
statistics,
record,
within
occurred
after
the
33
period
of
years
of
compulsory, and penal vaccination.
These three groups of
to the assertion
Small-pox
give no support
facts
that vaccination has diminished
mortality
;
and
it
must
always
be
remembered that we have actually no other
extensive body of statistics on which to found our
The
judgment.
is
utility or
purely a question of statistics.
us to decide, whether
we
only trustworthy statistics
blindly
to
men, who
they
will
we
It
remains for
be guided by the
possess, or continue
dogmas of an interested
not infallible body of professional
accept the
and certainly
as
otherwise of vaccination
once upheld inoculation as strongly
now uphold
vaccination.
YEARS OF
FORTY-FIVE
12
Small-pox has not been mitigated
BY Vaccination.
It is
is
often asserted that, although vaccination
not a complete protection against Small-pox,
yet
it
and
renders
take
it.
dangerous
less
it
severity of
the
diminishes
This assertion
by the
proof
above
direct evidence can
The
best
that
given,
mortality
disease,
it
answered
has
noiv,
more
be adduced.
available
records
although a large
population are vaccinated, as
before vaccination was
in
1723;
show
that,
Reports,
1746-63
Rees' Cyclopaedia,
;
it
Dr.
is
the
the
majority of the
was a century ago
discovered.
London
the
not
but
;
proportion of deaths to Small-pox cases
same
who
those
to
sufficiently
is
Small-pox
diminished
the
Dr. Jurin,
Small-pox
Lambert,
Hospital
1763
;
and
1779; give numbers varying
from 16-5 to 25-3 as the per-centage of mortality
the
among Small-pox patients in hospitals
average of the whole being i8-8 per cent.
Now for the epoch of vaccination. Mr. Marson,
;
1836-51, and the Reports of the London,
—
Homer-
and Dublin Small-pox
Hospitals, between 1870 and 1880, give numbers
ton,
Deptford,
Fulham,
REGISTRATION
217
varying from 14-26 to
Small-pox
of
STATISTICS.
as the deaths per cent,
average being 18-5.
the
patients,
13
remembered, under the improved
treatment and hygiene of the nineteenth as com-
And
this,
be
it
pared with the eighteenth century.
These figures not only demonstrate the
false-
hood of the oft-repeated assertion that vaccination
mitigates Small- pox, but they go far to prove the
very opposite
more
—that the disease has been rendered
intractable
by
it
or
;
how can we
account for
among Small-pox patients being
almost exacdy the same now as a century ago,
the
mortality
notwithstanding
science and
great
the
improvements
the
medical
advance of
in hospitals
and
hospital treatment?*
*
The
following authorities have been examined for the facts and
figiu'cs
of this section.
Dr. Jurin (18,066
"Analyse
et
DuviLLARD.
and Dr.
cases)
Tableau de
1'
Paris, 1806."
influence
(pp.
Lambert
(72
cases)
de la Petite Verole
given
in
par E. E.
;
112, 113.)
London Small-pox Hospitals (6,454
cases)
given in
"An
account of
the Rise, Progi-ess, and State of the Hospitals for relieving poor people
Sermon
afflicted with the Small Pox, and for Inoculation," appended to
"A
preached before the President and Officers of the Hospital
London, 1763."
the Bishop of Lincoln.
Rees' Cyclopcedia, 1779, Vol.
(extract).
"From
for Small-pox
2, Art.
a general calculation
Inoculation
it
appears
Col.
....
INP.
by
par. 5,
that, in the Plospitals
and Inoculation, 75 die out of 400 patients having the
distemper in die natural way."
Total cases before Vaccination, 24,994.
Mr. Marson, Resident Surgeon
to
the Small-pox and Vaccination
Hospital, London, (5,652 cases) ; given in the Blue
and Practice of Vaccination, 1857, p. 18.
Book on The Histoiy
FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF
Small-pox in the Army and Navy.
Here we have a
and
and
men,
healthy
vaccination
be
in
of
is
are
any
unknown
almost
re-vaccinated
exceptionally
the
efficacy
Soldiers
most strinrent
the
They
regulations.
and
vaccinated
are
Sailors
Our
vaccination.
accordance with
in
if
of
uselessness
or
test of the
crucial
prime
of
official
strong
life,
and
Small-pox should
use.
among
and
them,
no
London Hospitals, 1870-72, (14,808 cases); in the Report of a Committee
of the Managers of the Metropolitan Asylum District, July 1872, p. 5.
London Hospitals, 1876-80, (15,172 cases); in a
November 8th, 1879, from W. F. Jebb, Clerk
Asylum District.
of
letter to
to
The Times
the Meti-opolitan
Homerton, (5,479
cases);
from the Report of the Committee, 1877.
Deptford, (3,185
cases);
from the Report of the Medical Superin-
tendent,
1
881.
Fulham, (1,752
cases);
from the Report of
tlie
Medical Superintendent,
1881.
Dublin, (2,404 cases); from the Annual Report of the Committee, 1880.
Total cases
The
after Vaccination, 48,451.
extracted figures and per-centages have been
and the averages have been obtained by dividing the
multiplied by 100, by the total number of cases.
all cai'efuUy verified,
total
number of deaths
They are not
have thought it best to leave these notes unaltered.
That the gi'eat
by more recent experience, excepting in this Vi'ay
extension of our hospital accommodation involves a much larger number of
mild cases being admitted. Objection has been taken to Jurin's figures.
I
:
affected
—
must be remembered, was trying to induce people to accept
artificial Small-pox by inoculation, and he gives his figures to show the
He
great fatality of Small-pox taken in the ordinary way by infection.
JtJRiN,
it
The total
therefore certainly not err in making it too mild.
experience of the Metropolitan Asylums Board, up to the issue of the last
would
report to the managers,
is
given in the Appendix.
Ed.
.
REGISTRATION
the
A
as
a
let
us
of
Now
population."
protected
are
spoken
often
fact
in
Return has been
"
to
issued
of deaths from
number
three
"perfectly
what
see
thousand
of
and
Navy),"
mean
strength,
Small-pox, and the
each service for the twenty-
in
An
1860-82.
years
House
the
(Army
Small-pox
dated "August, 1884," giving the
ratio per
They
it.
facts.
Commons,
the
15
of
or sailor shoiUd ever die
soldier
are
STATISTICS.
examination of this
Return shows us that there has not been a single
year without two or more deaths in the Army,
and only two years without deaths
Navy.
in the
Comparing the Return on "Vaccination, Mortahty,"
No. 433, issued by the House of Commons in
1877,
we
find
that,
in
the
twenty- three years
1850-72, (the latest there given,) there were
many
years in which no adult Small-pox deaths were
recorded for a number of large towns of from
100,000 to 270,000 inhabitants-
none
in
3
derland in
in 9,
of the years,
7,
Dudley
Liverpool had
Birmingham and Sun-
Bradford and Sheffield in
in 10, while
8,
Halifax
Blackburn and Wolver-
hampton were each totally without adult Smallpox mortality for 11 out of the 23 years!
It
is
true
that
comparable, because
the
for
cases
these
are
not
strictly
towns we have
FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF
i6
deaths
only
given
separately,
Army
and Navy range
state of
many
preponderance
clearly
of these
in
no room
from about 17 to
chiefly
extremely unsanitary
considering the
But,
45.
is
aged 20 and upwards
whereas the ages of the
of persons
towns,
and
their great
freedom from Small-pox, there
left for
the alleged effect of re-
vaccination in securing to our soldiers and sailors
immunity from the
But
whole
us
let
look at the averages for the
series of years,
only reliable
I
now
disease.
find the
test.
On working
mean Small-pox
years to be, in the
call
as affording the best
Army
and
these out carefully
mortality for the 23
82-96, which
we may
83 per million, and in the Navy^' 157 per
million.
Unfortunately no materials exist for an
exact comparison of these rates with those of the
civil
made
population
;
but with
the best comparison
I
much
labour
can arrive
at.
I
have
From
the Census General Report, 1881, and the Reports
of the Registrar- General for the
as are included in the
same 23 years
Army and Navy
Return,
* The 4Sth Report of the Registrar-General, (Tables 63 and 4,) gives 25
This
Small-pox deaths among 195,937 British Merchant Seamen in 18S2.
We
Navy.
the
for
is at the rate of 127 per million, against the above 157
merchant
the
in
common
is
re-vaccination
have no reason to believe that
service.
be
In the Navy, therefore, the influence of re-vaccination appears
hm-tful rather than beneficial.
Ed.
to
REGISTRATION
I
been
have
able
to
and
ascertain
taken as best representing
55,
those of the two services
mean Small-pox death
double
that
why
Navy
the
is
though
difference
Small-pox
double
nearly
but
Army, and
the
the
is
this is
mortality,
of
what
to
arises,
first,
Navy
the
than
and the
;
result is
a
rate of 176 per million.*
be observed that
It will
the Small-pox
England and Wales between
mortality of males in
the years 15
17
STATISTICS.
more
the
than
question
And
due.
mortality
of the
that
more
little
in
the
The
Army?
following are the data on which this calculation is founded :—
In the General Report of the last Census, Table 14, p. 89, the numbers
at successive ages are given for the three last Censuses— 1861, 1871,
males
of
and 1 88 1. By a simple calculation it is found that the number of males of
*
all
The
ages
is
to that of
males aged 15—55 in the proportion of
I
to
-528.
Table 4, p. 78, of the same Census Report, gives the male population
Army and Navy
for the middle of each of the 23 years included in the
Retm-n. The mean of these numbers is 1 1 1 67, 500 ; and this sum, multiplied
by the factor -528, gives 5,896,500 for the average male population of the
,
ages 15
— 55
for those years.
the tables of "Causes of Death at different Periods of Life" in
860-1 882, I
the twenty-three successive Reports of the Registrar-General, 1
have extracted the deaths from Small-pox of males aged 15—55, the mean
From
annual value of which is 1,041 ; and this number, divided by the number of
millions in the corresponding population (5-8965), gives the death-rate per
million
The
=
176.
limit of age, 15
—
55, has
been taken because the General Report of
Army and Navy, 7,530 men
88 1, Table 40, gives, for the
over 45, and 28,834 under 20 years of age.
the Census of
1
The Small-pox
death-rate for
same
ages,
England and Wales,
for the
Supplement to 35th Report,
years 1850 to 1870, was only 109 per million.
The enormous increase is due to the epidemics since
Table 2, p. 2.
1870.— Ed.
B
YEARS OF
FORTY-FIVE
i8
same in
and the
regulations as to re-vaccination are the
both,
and are
men
are
equal
pretty
The
health.
both rigidly enforced,
in
must therefore be
cause
different conditions of
and
it
seems
me
to
stamina and general
in
the
in
of the two services
life
;
a probable supposition, that
the difference arises chiefly from the less efficient
and
ventilation
which are possible on
isolation
board ship as compared with
The
general
appears
Report,
1882,
considerably
that
so
(from
the
Tables
59
than
less
the
civil
Navy from
Registrar-General's
and
some
population are certainly
Army,
from
Small-
conditions.
conditions
much
be
the
of
special
the
are,
to
65,)
mortality
to
But whatever these
the
that
greater
pox must be due
Hospitals.*
of
mortality
disease
Army
of
the
Two-
worse.
Glasgow live in
houses of one or two rooms only, and many other
thirds of the families inhabiting
towns, including London, are probably not
better.
*
An
Under such
Officer
confirms this view.
of the
He
on board a ship of war.
But
and with the
conditions,
Royal Marine
assures
me
if this is
of
Artilleiy,
that isolation
much
is
great
experience,
absolutely impossible
the explanation of the phenomenon,
a proof of the complete inefficacy of re-vaccination, which not
only does not protect men from catching Small-pox, but allows them to
and, allowing something for the superiority of
die of it quite as much as
it
is
itself
—
sanitation,
even more
than—the
adult
vaccinated and hardly ever re-vaccinated
civil
!
population,
only partially
19
REGISTRATION STATISTICS.
low
by
induced
vitality
work, and bad
mortality of our
should expect the Small-pox
we
air,
over-
insuf¥icient food,
population to be very
civil
much
greater than that of the picked class of sailors
enjoy ample
who
Where
attendance.
then
by
security" afforded
fresh
food,
and medical
air,
alleged
the
is
re-vaccination,
"full
and how are
characterise the statements circulated at
we
to
the
expense of the public, that "Small-pox
almost unknown in the
we
are
draw a legitimate conclusion from
it is, that the re-vaccination to which
and
soldiers
Small-pox more
thus
*
If
to
the facts,
our
Army and Navy?'"^
is
fatal
we
only can
The following
sailors
ai-e
when
it
attacks them, for
the
explain
renders
subjected,
are
a few of these assertions.
large
The
mortality
italics are to call
attention to the essential words of each statement.
The "Lancet,"
of
March
1st,
repeated well once in a lifetime,
The Medical
dated June,
Small-pox
is
Officer
1884.
1879, says
and
then ike
:—" Vaccination
immunity
is
needs to be
abnost absohiie."
of the General Post Office says, in
— "The
only means
by re-vaccination
....
of
it
is
seeming
a circular
protection
against
desirable, in order to obtain
fnll security, that the operation should be repeated at a later period of life."
In the tract on "Small-pox and Vaccination " issued by the National
Health Society, and now being widely circulated at tlie expense of the
ratepayers, with the sanction of the Local Government Boai-d, we find
this statement :—" Evei-y Soldier and Sailor is re-vaccinated; the result
is that Small-pox is almost tuiknown in the Army and Navy, even amid
smTounding epidemics."
The above
statements are proved by the Official Returns
now
issued
to be absolutely untrue, and must have been ignorantly and recklessly
ipade without any adequate basis of fact,
YEARS OF
FORTY-FIVE
20
among
picked healthy
men under
and
under
supervision,
living
constant medical
far better sanitary
conditions than the mass of the
One
mode
other
is
but
little
million
for
1860-82
for
five
follows
^
:
on
an
very
Oldham
...
),
...
...
)>
between
large
towns
582),
the
as
131 per million.
„
109,595
200,158
„
114
„
104
115,572
„
89
many
was
119
315,998
course there are
rate per
average of the years
Manchester, (population 340,211 in
Brighton
Bradford
some large
The
population,
adult
the
55,
15
Of
Small-pox death-
better than that of
and
ages
Army
during the same period.
towns,
population.
of comparison can be made,
showing that even the
rate
civil
)>
other towns which
have a much higher mortality, but very few are
*
These
figiires
—
the Registi-ai--Generars
have been thus obtained
deaths per 1,000,
Small-pox
the
gives
xv.)
p.
The Parliamentaiy
for the years 1872-82.
Summaiy, 1882, (Table 7,
for twenty great Towns,
Return, "Vaccination, Mortality," 1877, gives the Small-pox mortality and
population of a considerable number of towns for the years 1847-72.
From these two official papers the Small-pox mortality per million of the
whole male population from i860 to 1882, for such towns as occur in
both the
tables, is
easily obtained.
The
average Small-pox death-rate
for all England is found to be 211 7, wlrile that of the ages 15—55 is
These numbers are in the proportion of I to -83 hence the total
176.
Small-pox mortality of any town multiplied by the factor "83 will give,
The proportion has been
approximately, the mortality at ages 15—45sexes combined will not
two
the
obtained from males only, but that of
be materially different,
;
—
REGISTRATION
much worse than
large town which
The very worst
Navy.
the
21
STATISTICS.
can find in the Reports
I
is
Newcastle-on-Tyne, which for the same period
had an adult Small-pox mortality of 349 per
But
million.
them but
of
litde
five
of
the
most
our
adult
less
Navy,
and
one
more than the Army, amounts
of
demonstration
a
to
than
mortality
Small-pox
that
considerably
have
towns
populous
fact
the
the
uselessness
of
the
most complete re-vaccination.
The general mortality of our adult population
is much greater than that of the Army and Navy.
From the official sources of information already
quoted,
I
find that the
average mortality of the
adult male population of
1
2
—
England, of the ages
1860-82, was about
25, for the years
1
1,300
per million.*
That of the Navy,
11,000
7,
1
per
million
for the
from
all
same
period,
causes,
was
and only
50 from disease.
That of the Army, at home, was 10,300 per
Abroad it was nearly double (19,400),
million.
but this included all the deaths from casualties,
exposure, &c., in the Abyssinian, Afghan,
Zulu,
Transvaal, and other petty wars.
* Taken from p.
lii.,
4Stli
Report of the Registrai--General.
Ed.
FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF
Thus the
superior physique of our soldiers and
together
sailors,
under which they
with
live,
the
we make
these
population
civil
much below
causes
in
case
the
that
of the
comparable ages.
of
same allowance
the
conditions
are fully manifested in a
mortality from disease
adult
sanitary
the influence of
for
of
If
Small-pox,
there
remains absolutely nothing for the alleged protective influence of re-vaccination.
Surely
we
now hear no more
shall
of
re-vaccinated nurses in Small-pox hospitals,
to
whom we
have no
and usually inaccurate
a great,
to,
officially
extending
the
(as
but only vague
statistics,
assertions,)
when we have
recorded experiment to refer
over
23
and
years
more than 200,000 men, the
applied
results
of which
and
directly contradict every professional
to
official
statement as to the safeguard of re- vaccination.
Vaccination itself a cause of Disease
AND Death.
As
has
been
now
shown,
vaccination
is
quite powerless either to prevent or to mitigate
Small-pox.
But
good grounds
cause of
much
for
this
is
not
all,
believing that
for
it
is
there
are
itself
the
disease and serious mortality.
REGISTRATION
It
was
syphilis
but
by
denied
long
be
is
now
23
medical
communicated
can
this
STATISTICS.
universally
men
that
by vaccination
admitted,
and
;
no
478 cases of vaccine-syphilis have
But there is also
been recorded."^
than
less
already
good reason
to
same means,
since
other blood-
and increased by the
transmitted
are
diseases
many
believe that
has
there
been
many
for
years a steady increase of mortality from such
diseases which
elves
diseases
from
Annual
Report
and
34,)
long
of
list
(except
others,
vaccination
by
it,)
is
it
for
the
maladies
while
there
Bronchitis,
though
the
Ixxix.,
noteworthy
very
Table
the
tabulated,
no
which often follows
striking
great
of
five
in
that,
probably,
not,
of
Registrar- General's
(page
1880,
The
contemplate.
increase
the
show any such
increase,
to
terrible
table
following
these
is
transmitted
and continuous
majority
are
either
stationary or decreasing.
*
See
Mr. Tebb's "Compulsory
(Note,) for a
list
Vaccination in England,"
of the authorities for these cases.
p.
25,
YEARS OF
FORTY-FIVE
Annual Deaths
England per
in
Million Living.*
Average of
5
years.
1850-4 1855-9 1860-4 1865-9 1870-4 1875-9
279
199
191
148
433
82
25
37
51
64
82
81
86
84
302
327 369 404 442 493 S16
261 272 316 299 330 371
265
20
18
24
23
29
39
12
IS
16
17
18
23
22
672 745
842
869 971
993
Totals... 636
0
We
here
from
mortahty
which
increase
a
see
and continuous.
cannot
the
have,
sole
good
reason
In
cause.
since
on
it
direct
of
exist
scale,
the
diseases,
an
the
is
a
infants
is
we have
but
it
is
and
not,
vaccination
that
it
steady
is
we have
that
place
in
them
increase,
inoculates
directly
may
disease
this
first
enormous
an
proof
357
335
increase
of
true,
beheve
to
the
sum
is
206 233
109
these
of
the
It
cause
36
constant
each
in
1880.
chief
vera causa,
and
adults,
whatever blood-
with
unsuspected
in
the
system
* This Table lias not been continued in later Reports ; but we find
(tlie only disease of the five sepai-ately tabulated) goes on
that Cancer
steadily increasing, the mortality for the five years, 18S1-85, being given in
the 48th
for the
Report as follows
same period was
78.
:— Syphilis, 92;
Ed.
Cancer,
544.
Small-pox,
REGISTRATION STATISTICS.
of the
infants
taken.
In
has
cause
whom
from
the vaccine vims
adduced
been
special
continuous
increase
which
spread of sanitation,
and
the
have
both
rendered
of
diseases,
cleanliness,
knowledge,
medical
advanced
of
remarkably
the
for
these
of
is
no other adequate
next place,
the
25
and
frequent
less
should
less
fatal.
The increased deaths from these five causes,
from 1855 to 1880, exceed the total deaths
from Small-pox during the same period I
So
even
that
if
latter
by
vaccination,
abolished
totally
had been
disease
the
general
the
mortality would have been increased, and there
much reason
is
It
has
believe
been boldly
asserted
by
the
increase
the
that
caused by vaccination
may have been
*
to
itself.'"
Government
Department
controlling vaccination, [Eleventh Report of the MecUcal Officer to Local
Government Board, p.
by vaccination, 12,000
assertion
at
is
an
esliinate
almost eveiy point.
facts
vi., et seq.,]
that even if
some
lives are annually saved by
which contradicts the
The estimate and
childi-en are killed
The
it.
official
basis of that
vaccination returns
assertion
are
false
to
the
which are obtainable.
The above noted
estimate
is
taken to prove that 94 per cent, of
London
children under ten years of age are vaccinated, and that 95 per cent, of the
This statement is further assumed to be
population [p. 41] are vaccinated.
supported by an examination of " 53,185 children in various national,
Such is
charitable, and parochial schools and workhouses in London."
the odious rigour of vaccine regulations in our "national, charitable, and
parochial workhouse schools," that I should not have been surprised
of these chikhen, not one was found uuvacciuated.
The
if,
parents of these
26
REGISTRATION STATISTICS,
poor children have had no one to defend them by paying fines for neglect
of the vaccination.
Yet this "inspection" showed 6 per cent, to have
" no vaccination scar," or to be doubtful as to vaccination.
It is on such bases, that tremendous statements, such as that noted
above, are founded ; and to shade off the impudence of this one it is further
declared that
'
too high."
Our
'
estimate of the
tlie
number of the unvaccinated
is
probably
responsible ministers have been appealed to respecting
such a base use of
official reports,
objector to the veiy officials
and have had the humour to refer the
so degraded their department of
who have
"the public service." These, in turn, when appealed to, refer to the
head of the department ; meanwhile the false statement is repeatedly
quoted, and stands as first used.
The Reports of the Local Government Board, show that only once
have there ever been more than 87 per cent, of the births of the countiy
The last year
vaccinated, and in London 3 or 4 per cent, fewer.
reported, 1886, gives 30,000 fewer official vaccinations than 1877,
it
was over 86 per
cent,
of the births.
The plan
when
of the officials
is
94 per cent, vaccinated, by deducting the infants who died unvaccinated from the total births, and treating the rest as "surviving."
Death is as busy with vaccinated
I know no more condemnable trick.
to get
as with unvaccinated children.
Ed.
—
PART
II.
Comparative Mortality of the
Vaccinated and the Unvaccinated.
TN
speech
his
June
19th, 1883,
statement:
foUowing
the
cases
10,000
shows
House of Commons,
Sir Lyon Playfair made
the
in
that
patients die,
of
analysis
MetropoHtan
the
in
— "An
Hospitals
45 per cent, of the Unvaccinated
and only 1 5 per cent, of Vaccinated
patients;" and he further showed that statistics
similar
other
countries.
by
my
had been published
character
of a
readers
It
that
will
in
no doubt be objected
these
statistics,
if
correct,
are a complete proof of the value of vaccination
and
shall
I
be expected
to
show that they are
incorrect or give up the whole case.
prepared to do
firstly,
;
and
I
;
now undertake
This
I
am
to prove
that the figures here given are unreliable
;
and, secondly, that such statistics necessarily give
false
results
unless they are classified according
to the age-periods of the patients.
FORTY -FIVE YEARS OF
28
The
per-centages of Vaccinated and
Unvaccinated unreliable.
The
of death
simple fact
easily ascertained,
from
and has been
Small-pox
many
for
is
years
accurately recorded.
But, whether
deceased person had been
the
vaccinated or not,
confluent Small-pox
ascertained, because
alone
is
ordinarily
a fact by no means easily
is
the vacci-
obliterates
fatal)
(which
nation marks in the worst cases, and the death
then
usually recorded
the
or
official
doubtful.
record
altogether
among
the
this
reason
For
vaccinated
or
untrustworthy, and
is
unvaccinated
alone
the
tmvaccinated— is
cannot
be made
the subject of accurate statistical enquiry.*
But there are other reasons why the comparison
of the deaths of these two classes is worthless.
Deaths registered as unvaccinated include
(i.)
— Infants
dying under vaccination age, and
who, therefore, have no corresponding class among
*
As an
instance of the reticence of
officials
on the
subject.
I
cannot
find any details in the Regisb-ar-General's reports respecting vaccinated
For that year 270 vaccinated
persons dying of Small -pox until 1874.
Then' for years no information is
persons are reported dying of Small-pox.
For that and the subsequent
given, until 1879, when it is again inserted.
Small-pox.
years we have 2,512 vaccinated persons returned as dying of
Several thousands are noted as
"not
stated as to vaccination."— Ed.
29
REGISTRATION STATISTICS.
among whom
the vaccinated, but
mortality
is
greatest.
too weakly or
Children
(2.)
and whose low
vaccinated,
severe disease
A
(3.)
diseased
vitality
be
to
any
renders
fatal.
unknown number of the
but
large
nomad
and
criminal
the Small-pox
population
who
escape
These are often badly
under the most unsanitary conditions
the vaccination officers.
fed and live
;
they are, therefore, especially liable
to suffer in
epidemics of Small-pox or other zymotic diseases.
It
is
three
by the indiscriminate union of these
classes,
together
erroneously
those
with
classed as unvaccinated owing to the obliteration
of marks or other defect of evidence, that the
number of deaths
registered
swollen far beyond
its
comparison with
those
"unvaccinated"
true proportions,
registered
is
and the
''vaccinated"
rendered altogether untrustworthy and misleading.
This
is
not a mere inference, for there
direct evidence that the records
and
"no
statement"
Registrar-General
chief
argument
class
of facts,
in
the
are often
for
much
"unvaccinated"
Reports
erroneous.
vaccination
is
rests
of
the
As the
upon
this
a few examples of the evidence
referred to must be here given.
YEARS OF
FORTY-FIVE
30
Mr. a. Feltrup, of Ipswich, gives a case
boy aged 9, who died of Small-pox, and was
(i.)
of a
recorded
By
the
in
search
a
certificate
" unvaccinated."
as
the register of successful vac-
in
was found that the boy, Thomas
Taylor, had been successfully vaccinated on the
cinations
it
May,
20th
May
Chronicle,
(2.)
— In
"
5,
W. Adams.
by
1868,
1877.)
Notes on the Small-pox Epidemic
By Fras. Vacher, M.D.,
at Birkenhead, 1877."
we
(p. 9.,)
"As
{Suffolk
find the following
regards
the
:
patients
admitted
to
the
fever hospital or treated at home, those entered
as vaccinated displayed undoubted cicatrices, as
attested
those
by
competent
entered
medical
witnesses,
not vaccinated were admitted
as
unvaccinated or without the faintest mark.
mei^e assertions
they
zvere
of patients or
vaccinated
about 80 per
and
cent,
of
The
their friends that
counted
for
nothing,
as
the patients entered in the
of the table (' unknown ') were
reported as having been vaccinated in infancy."
third
(The
(3.)
cohtm^i
italics
are
— Bearing
we have
my
own.)
upon
this
important admission,
the following statement in Dr. Russell's
Glasgow Report, 187 1-2 (p. 25)
"Sometimes persons were said
:
to
be vaccinated,
REGISTRATION STATISTICS.
31
but no marks could be seen, very frequently because of the abundance of the eruption.
cases
those
of
which
recovered, an
In
some
inspection
before dismissal discovered vaccine marks, some-
times 'very good,'"
(4.)
—
The
"
last
vaccinated
visited
epidemic of Small-pox which
Preston
was
in
1877.
February of that year, Dr. Rigby, the medical
officer of the
Union, sent out a report, in which he
stated that 'out of 83 persons admitted into the
Fulwood Small-pox Hospital, 73 were
vaccinated.'
All recovered, he alleged, but the ten unvaccinated
Here was a bold and specific
statement but what were the facts revealed after
The
careful investigation by two committees ?
cases
died.
all
;
first
case reported as unvaccinated turned out to
be a revaccinated policeman, named Walter Egan.
Another case reported as unvaccinated
was a
named Mary Shorrock, vaccinated by the very
medical officer who rettirned her as unvaccinated.
child
In
all,
six cases out of the ten
were proved to
have been vaccinated, whilst three were doubtful,
we
not being able to trace them."
of Mr.
J.
SwiNDLEHURST,
in the
— From
letter
Walsall Observer,
1888.— Ed.
In 1872, Mr. John Pickering, of Leeds,
(5.)
carefully investigated a number of cases entered
July 2ist,
—
FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF
32
as
" not vaccinated "
by the medical
the Leeds Small-pox
Hospital, tracing
parents,
examining the patients
taining
the
were
entered
The
" not
as
of
certificate
dead.
while 9 others
result
out
alive,
if
vaccination
that
was,
and
vaccinated,"
6
who had
the
or ob-
they
if
patients,
living,
still
marks
good vaccination
have
were found to
officers of
and whose deaths
died,
had been registered as " not vaccinated," were
proved to have been successfully vaccinated. In
8 cases were proved to have
addition to these,
been vaccinated,
but
times,
entered
aliice
them three
of
unsuccessfully,
" unfit
certified
some
and
or
others
4
be vaccinated," yet
to
"
as
all
four
were
were
The
un vaccinated."
particulars of this investigation are to
full
be found
pamphlet by Mr. Pickering, published by
F. Pitman, 20, Paternoster Row, London.
in a
(6.)
—As
further corroborative evidence of the
untrustworthiness
in the
January,
1874,
own
and
to
:
—
to
" In
on the subject
records
men,
the
following
" Certificates
of
Birmingham Medical Review
for
are
my
from an
Death,"
all
medical
from
emanating
quotation
of
is
article
on
important;
certificates
the
italics
given by us voluntarily,
which the public have
access,
it is
be expected that a medical man
scarcely
will
give
REGISTRATION STATISTICS.
may
opinions which
33
against or reflect upon
tell
In such cases he will most
himself in any way.
and
likely tell the truth, b7it not the zuhole truth,
some prominent symptom of the disease as
As instances of cases which
the cause of death.
assign
may
tell
man
against the medical
himself,
will
I
mention erysipelas from vaccination, and puerperal
A
fever.
I
to
ago
long
not
death from the
in
my
and although
practice,
had not vaccinated the
child,
from
preserve vaccination
cause occurred
first
yet in
reproach,
my desire
I omitted
from my certificate of death!^
The illustrative facts now given cannot be
supposed to be exceptional, especially when we
all mention
of
it
consider the
great amount
required
bring
to
them
of time
to
light
;
and labour
and taken
astounding admissions of
in connection with the
medical men, of which examples have been just
given,
prove
they
placed on the
pox
patients
registration
cent,
while,
;
is
dependence
can
be
of the proportions
unvaccinated among Small-
official
of vaccinated and
no
that
records
if
usually
of those classed
Mr. Vacher's method of
followed,
about 80
per
by the Registrar- General
under the heading "no statement" have been
really stated,
by their parents or
been vaccinated.
friends, to
have
FORTY-FIVE YEARS
34
Our Hospital
But a
still
OF
necessarily give
False Results.
more serious matter remains to
Statistics
be considered, and
it
is
a striking proof of the
crude and imperfect evidence on which the important question of the value of vaccination has
been decided, that the point
entirely overlooked
vaccination,
in question
has been
by every English advocate of
although
it
involves an
elementary
principle of statistical science.
This
point
hospitals,
strictly
is,
the records
that until
in
our
"vaccinated" and " unvaccinated," are
and
correct,
be demonstrated
deduced from
properly
that
true
classified,
results
it
cannot
can
be
them."^'
The requisite comparison has, however, been
made on a population of about 60,000, consisting of;
the officials and workmen employed on the Imperial
Austrian State Railways, by the Head Physician,
and his results
Dr. Leander Joseph Keller
;
during the years 1872-3 are so important that
it is
necessary to give a brief abst ract of them.t
Appendix on the eruption. Ed.
cases among the Employes of the Imperial Austrian
Small-pox
on
Report
f
Translated from the German by
State Railway Company for the year 1873.
Mrs. Hume-Rothery. National Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League.
Another and enlarged version of Dr. Keller's Report has been published
The Mitigation Theoiy of Vaccination an Account of the Statistics
By Dr. Keller,
collected during the Small-pox Epidemic of 1872-73
Medical Director of the Austrian State Railways. By Alfred Milnes,
M.A. London: E. W. Allen, Ave Maria Lane.
* See remarks in the
:
;
—
REGISTRATION
^i.)
—
It is
pox patients
—
—
STATISTICS.
35
shown that the death-rate of Smallis
greatest in the
diminishes gradually to
then
between the 15th
law
same
the
exactly
following
life,
age
rises again to old
and 20th year, and then
thus
year of
first
as
;
the
general mortality.
(2.)
—The
Small-pox death-rate, among over
2,000 cases, was i7"85 per cent, of the
cases,
closely agreeing with the general average.
That
unvaccinated was
of the
that of the vaccinated
(3.)
—This
vaccination,
was only 15 "61 per
shown
and
life,"^
entirely
above
unconnected with
is
2 years,
3
1
'76,
almost
first
two years
be a purely numerical fact
to
proved as follows
cent.
be wholly due to the
to
excess of the unvaccinated in the
of
while
cent.,
apparently so favourable to
result,
is
23*20 per
:
vaccination.
— Taking,
all
first,
This
is
ages
the
the death-rates of the vaccinated
and
exactly
unvaccinated
the
of
the
same,
but
with
13" 15,
a
slight
advantagfe to the unvaccinated.
Taking now the
is
first
two years, the death-rate
found to be as follows
:
Unvaccinated.
Vaccinated.
First year of life
60-46
45 '24
Second year of
54*o5
38' 10
life
* This applies to Austria.
earlier,
yet,
in
In England vaccination
a pamphlet entitled
'
'
is
usually performed
Plain Fads on Vaccinaiion, " by
FORTY-FIVE YEARS
36
OF
Thus the Small-pox death-rate
actually less
Is
for the
unvaccinated than for the vaccinated
infants,
and
average
the
higher ages
eqtial for all the
of
the
whole
yet
;
higher for
is
in
the
simply on account of the greater
unvaccinated,
proportion of the unvaccinated at those ages at
which the mortality
It
thus
is
made
is
tmiversally greatest.
clear that
any comparison of
the Small-pox mortality of the vaccinated and the
unvaccinated, except at strictly corresponding ages,
leads to entirely false conclusions.
This curious and important fact
be
rendered
20 years of age,
to
groups
do
— those
not.
were
easily
perhaps
by
intelligible
an
Let us take the whole population
illustration.
up
more
may
If
who go
to
school,
it
into
registered,
it
two
and those who
Small-pox mortality of
the
separately
and divide
these
would be found
be very much greater among the non-school
composed chiefly of infants, and of
goers,
to
—
weakly
children
too
amongst
whom
G. Oliver, about 1872,
the
it
Hampstead,— "The number
to
be
mortality
was stated
sent
is
to
school,
always
very
that in the Small-pox Hospital,
of the unvaccinated patients,
up
to the age of
ages."
ten years, greatly preponderates over the vaccinated of corresponding
were
there
1S71-77,
years
eight
the
in
In the Homerton Small-pox Hospital
including
vaccinated,
old,
to
20
years
2
under
unvaccinated patients
147
among
these the doubtful cases.
—
REGISTRATION STATISTICS.
so
oreat
much
that
so
'37
a doctor of wide
ex-
—
Dr. Vernon, of Southport has stated
that, he had never known an infant under one year
But we should
of age recover from Small-pox.
perience
surely think
person either
a
silly
statistics that
argued from such
or
mad who
school-going was
a protection against the disease, and that school
Yet
children formed a "protected population."
this
exactly
is
of those
comparable with the
who adduce
unvaccinated
reasoning
the greater mortality
Small-pox
of
patients
all
among
ages
and conditions, as the very strongest argument
in favour of vaccination
Good
statistics*
!
and good arguments cannot
be upset, or even weakened, by those which are
I have now shown that the main argument
bad.
relied
on by our adversaries, rests on thoroughly
unsound
statistics,
inaccurate to begin with, and
Those which
wrongly interpreted afterwards.
have used, on the other hand,
perfect,
that
are yet
exist.
I
the
ask
best
if
not
I
absolutely
and most trustworthy
and
statisticians
men
of
unbiassed judgment to decide between them.
must be insisted upon, over and over again, that they are not good
where the class under trial the vaccinated are in gi-eat numbers
Ep.
of cases assumed not to be vaccinated against all testimony available.
* It
slatistics,
—
—
—
FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF
38
Conclusion from the Evidence.
The
of
result
thus summarized
(i.)
may be
enquiry
brief
this
:
— Vaccination
does
not
diminish
Small-
shown by the 45 years of the
Registrar-General's statistics, and by the deaths
pox
mortality, as
from Small-pox of our "re-vaccinated" soldiers
and
being as numerous as those of the
sailors
male population of the same ages of several of
our large towns, although the former are picked,
healthy
men,
thousands
while
living
the
under
most
the
many
include
latter
unsanitary
conditions.
(2.)
—While
vaccination"^
death in
of about
thus
cases,
10,000
and
by
most
terrible
five
and
inocu-
and disgusting
to
this
extent,
year, since vaccination has
enforced by penal laws
—The
disease
the probable cause
which have increased
steadily, year
(3.)
is
of
deaths annually by
lable diseases of the
character,
powerless for good,
a certain cause
is
many
utterly
been
!
hospital statistics, showing a greater
The operation itself kills many. The Registi-ai-General gives, under
head
of Cow-pox and other effects [eiysipelas, &c.] of vaccination for
the
In
the years 1881 to 1S86, the following deaths of infants under one yeai'.
In London, 61. Total for the six years, 316. Ed.
the countiy, 255 deaths.
*
REGISTRATION STATISTICS.
than of the vac-
unvaccinated
mortality of the
39
while
have been proved to be untrustworthy
conclusions drawn from them are
the
shown
to
cinated,
;
be necessarily
false.
these facts are true, or anything near the
If
enforcement
the
truth,
imprisonment
and
of
by
vaccination
of
fine
parents,
unwilling
is
a
and criminal despotism, which it behoves
true friends of humanity to denounce and
cruel
all
oppose at every opportunity.
Such
health,
our
serious
a matter
the
The
exposed.
alone
a
open
land.
statistical
you
to
We,
some
in
shall
this
;
Some
of the
and
been
evidence
on
if
to
any
fulfil
find
that
your
by
here
which
founded,
the
you,
our
solemn
devoting
and
that the
is
in
doctor
demand
matter,
you
be
can
investigation
personal
research
as
therefore,
representatives,
us
or the
have
relied,
judgment
true
depend on
some of the ignorance on
have
you
which
too
is
officials
professional clique.
and
lives,
to
misstatements of interested
misstatements
to
be allowed
to
our
does,
it
and our very
liberty,
dogmas of a
as
as
involving
legislation,
duty
to
it
painstaking
main
facts
40
REGISTRATION STATISTICS.
here
as
call
stated
upon you
correct,
we
undo without delay the
evil
are
to
substantially
you have done.
We, therefore, solemnly urge upon you
the immediate repeal of the iniquitous
penal laws by which you have forced upon
us a dangerous and useless operation an
operation which has admittedly caused many
deaths,
GREATER
which
is
MORTALITY
BUT WHICH CANNOT
•SAVED
probably
THAN
BE
A SINGLE HUMAN
the
cause
SmALL-POX
PROVED
LIFE.
TO
of
ITSELF,
HAVE
EVER
APPENDIX.
TN
addition to other
besetting the
difficulties
students of our Hospital records, one stands
prominently forward
exceeding
as
Dr. Wallace has referred
comparing
who
vaccinated,
even classed
are
omission must be
The
patients
or
the
complained
way
only correct
is
of
of the
skin,
un-
often
not
But a greater
of.
Small-pox
classing
The
by age and by eruption.
state
can
hardly
fatal,
skill
are
can
cure
patient
One
the
best
it.
As
given
vaccinated
summaries
disregarded.
this
and
nursing
a rule
they are
these
not
classification
kind
two kinds
often
is
so
greatest
distinction,
and un-vaccinated.
kind
bad nursing
— another
lumped together without any
even when
into
the
kill
not
that
mild, that even
so
is
eruption,
the only scientific
is
guide to the nature of the disorder.
of Small-pox
of
called
class,
age together.
in
others.
difficulty
those
mixed
a
the
to
with
vaccinated
the
and
divided
In general
universally
APPENDIX.
42
The
Hospitals
Metropolitan
operation
since
During
1869.
been
have
the
in
years
16
reported upon to the managers, since that time
they have
received
Of
for treatment.
vaccinated,
The
is
this great total,
classed
are
41,061
and
the
of
the
fatality
very heavy, but
as
siderations
to
Small-pox
cases of
53,579
no fewer than
vaccinated,
as
remainder as
un-
5,866
"doubtful."
un-vaccinated and doubtful
this
largely due to con-
is
who
the people
un-
the
are
vaccinated, which have already been urged, and
which are greatly strengthened by
facts
now
to
be adduced.
The Handbook, 1887, giving these particulars,
Before
has no "doubtful" class until 1880.
that period the un-vaccinated absorbed them all.
As
this
to
any doubts
is
that
!
Why
classification?
are
there
The answer
skin,
patient
most
In
mild
in
is
the
part
of the
very bad cases.
the
skin
the
vaccination
does
marks are
not
suffer
the
The
much.
clearly visible.
And
marks of vaccination will
be most numerous in the mild
in
affected.
the
confluent
The
cases
the
skin
is
pustules run together, and
so
most
"good"
certainly
But
class
the vaccination marks are on the
affected
the
the
in
and the skin
cases
doubtful
cases.
badly
if
this
APPENDIX.
eruption
is
over the vaccinated arm, no vaccination
mark can be
But no case
seen.
vaccinated unless a
such
that
pass,
to
vaccinated
a
bad
of heavy fatality.
is
fatal
these
In
cases
skin
the
confluent
the
is
From
intendants,
We
see
or as
now why
this
receives the doubtful
I
of
all,
"malignant."
the
not degraded as
is
it
yield:
is
in
and
suppressed,
But the vaccination marks
medical super-
several reports of
have collected 66 1 of these very
In only 8 cases were there "doubts."
cases.
rest
"doubtful,"
eruption
the
;
the blood poisoned.
show.
himself
declaring
as
It
comes
it
confirmed by a reference to
further
is
most
the
So
but never any doubtful mild ones.
cases,
This
recorded as
is
seen.
is
patient
down
put
is
mark
"said to be vaccinated."
class
43
vaccinated,
486
fatal
The
persons with
432
deaths; and un-vaccinated, 167 persons with 150
Nothing more damaging
deaths.
Yet
could be recorded.
or
in
a
table of
without reference
this
is
We
in a purely
age table
;
vaccinated
and un-vaccinated,
the
of the skin,
to
state
all
buried.
see then that in the mild cases, error as to
classification
these
to vaccination
is
very unlikely ever to occur.
no deaths
complications.
need be feared,
In
except from
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
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The land of the Oiang
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.-x
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"
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LUDGATE
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The London
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The Abolition
Prcsidetit.
WILLIAM TEBB,
Esq.,
7,
Albert Road, Gloucester Gate, Regent's Park-,
N.W.
Vice-rrcsi(ie7its.
THOMAS BURT, Esq., M.P., 26, Pal.ace Street, Buckingham Gate,
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IS.A..\C
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S.W.
Esq., M.P., O.akworth House, Keighley.
Executive Committee.
CH..\IRM.^N.—WILLIAM
TEBB.
JOHN
GENERAL EARLE.
ALFREY.
W. L. BEURLE.
R.
LEWIS.
Mrs. LOWE.
GLOVER.
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J. F. HAINES.
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Parliamentary Agent—Vf. L. BEURLE, Linden House, 331, Victoria Park Road, E.
Secretary—WlhLlPM. YOUNG, 77, Atlantic Road, Brixton, S.W.
Mrs. R. R.
In times when the laws of health
it was
believed that by poisoning the blood
were impeifectly understood,
with the vims of small-pox, or cowpox, a future attack of small-pox
While many
might be escaped.
kindred medical practices have been
discredited and forgotten. Vaccination, endowed by the State, has
and
and
has entered into
is enforced with fine
legislation,
It is in vain
and imprisonment.
for nonconformists to plead that they
do not believe that Vaccination has
any power to prevent or to mitigate
small-pox, or that it is attended by
the risk of communicating other
They are told they may
diseases.
believe what they like, but that
vaccinated they must be, for the
survived,
benefit of the rite is settled beyond
dispute, and that only fools and
fanatics venture to question what has
been irrevocably determined.
Many too, whilst disinclined to
discuss Vaccination as a medical
question, or to surrender confidence
in its prophylaxy, are opposed to its
compulsory
tain
that
infliction.
They main-
every remedy should be
left to justify itself
by
its
own efficacy,
and that of all prescriptions the last
which requires extraneous assistance
Vaccination
for its repute is
based on the fact that its subjects
are secure from small-pox, and in
that security may abide indifferent
to those who choose to neglect its
is
;
salvation.
pox
Even
hospitals,
it
nurses
is
in small-
said,
when
vaccinated and re-vaccinated, live unaffected in the variolous
atmosphere.
They consequently
hold that to compare an unvaccinated
person to a nuisance, as is frequently
done, is to make use of an epithet
that implicitly denies the virtues
asserted for Vaccination, a nuismce
being a danger or annoyance which
another cannot conveniently avoid.
The members of the London
Society therefore appeal with
confidence to the sympathy and
They
support of their countrymen.
claim to enlist the energies not
only of those who are opposed to
Vaccination as useless and mischievous, but of those who, time
to their faith in liberty, would leave
its acceptance to the discretion of
the individual.
efficiently
The London Society for
The Abolition of Compulsory Vaccination.
—The
—The
OBJECTS
OF
THE
SOCIETY.
Abolition of Compulsory Vaccination.
II.
Diffusion of Knowledge concerning Vaccination.
Ill— The Maintenance in London of an Office for the Publication
of Literature relating to Vaccination, and a Centre of
Information and Action.
!•
The viinimum Annual Suiscri^tion constituting^ Membership is S&.Gd. Every
oppotient of Compulsory Vaccination in the United Kingdom is earnestly invited
to join and co-operate with the Society.
I AM directed to draw attention very
earnestly to
the
claims of the
London Society for the Abolition of
Compulsory Vaccination.
The Society is engaged in an
arduous enterprise with the firm
resolve to achieve success ; and with
this
end in view the Members
maintain an Office they publish the
acciiiatioii Inquirer, and a variety
;
V
of books, tracts, and leaflets, which
are liberally distributed wherever
likely to be of use; they organise
public meetings, and avail themselves
of eveiy opportunity for lectures and
discussions ; and from the Office
conduct an extensive correspondence
at home and abroad.
It is needless to say that all these
operations are attended with expense,
and indeed with heavy expense, yet
from none of them is it possible to
withdraw ; on the contrary with
larger means they would be developed
and extended. At present the chief
cost of these operations is borne by
the liberality of the few, and it is
the wish, and the reasonable wash,
of the Committee to enlarge the area
of subscription, and to have the
names of all opponents of Com-
pulsoiy
The
upon
Vaccination
register of
their
membership.
successful issue of this
agitation
would
honourable
most
be
greatly hastened if only those who
are persuaded of the folly of vaccination, and who abhor the tyrannical
the rite upon the unwould come forward and
infliction of
willing,
assist
to
sustain
those
who
are
disposed to assume the more active
duties of the conflict.
The Committee feel that it is not becoming
that many, who have openly expressed their sympathy with the
objects they have in view, and who
will rejoice over the Abolition of
Compulsory Vaccination, should yet
do little or nothing to contribute to
the victory which they are sufficiently
enlightened to desire.
The Committee
that
therefore hope
you will not only look favourably
on
this
that
you
appeal for
assistance,
but
will also tiy to enlist in the
good cause some of those
latent
sympathisers, who, probably, only
require the stimulus of suggestion
and persuasion to become active
allies.
WILLIAM YOUNG,
77,
Atlantic Road,
Brixton, S.W.
Secretary.
THE VACCINATION INQUIRER.
Published Monthly, price
E.
W. ALLEN,
id.,
or
is. 6d.
per annum, post
4 Ave Maria Lane, London,
E.C.
free.
1