Armstrong – Table of Contents

the society told him he would have to resign if he kept presenting his views on smallpox
with which his fellow practitioners disagreed vehemently.
Jenner continued his observations. By 1796, he felt that he had sufficient evidence
to test his theory. On May 14, 1796 he performed his first vaccination (from vacca =
Latin, for cow). Lymph taken from the hand of Sarah Nelmes (case XVI) (10), a
dairymaid affected with cowpox, was inoculated into healthy 8-year old James Phipps
(case XVII) (10). Phipps went through a typical case of cowpox. Six weeks later, July 1,
1796, Jenner injected material from a smallpox pustule into Phipps’ arm. Phipps
remained completely well.
For the next several years, Jenner continued the process of vaccination among
patients in his practice. Finally, in 1798, he applied to the Royal Society in London for
permission to present his conclusions before that “august body”. The president of the
Society replied that Jenner “should be cautious and prudent, that he had already gained
some credit by his communication to the Royal Society, and aught not risk his reputation
by presenting to the learned body anything which appeared so much at variance with
established knowledge and withal so incredible” (10).
Jenner did not present his conclusions to the Royal Society but he did visit
London from April to July 1798. He did try to present his findings to professional friends.
In June 1798, while still in London, his classical monograph (self-published) on
vaccination appeared. He returned to Gloucestershire in July without arousing any
interest in vaccination among London physicians. He left, however, a supply of cowpox
virus with Mr. Cline, an orthopedist at St. Thomas Hospital. Mr. Cline used this material
for unrelated reasons on one of his patients who developed cowpox. Mr. Cline was