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JENNER, EDWARD (1749-1823)

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 321 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JENNER, See also:EDWARD (1749-1823) , See also:English physician and discoverer of See also:vaccination, was See also:born at See also:Berkeley, See also:Gloucestershire, on the 17th of May 1749. His See also:father, the Rev. See also:Stephen Jenner, See also:rector of See also:Rockhampton and See also:vicar of Berkeley, came of a See also:family that had been See also:long established in that See also:county, and was possessed of considerable landed See also:property; he died when Edward was only six years old, but his eldest son, the Rev. Stephen Jenner, brought his See also:brother up with paternal care and tenderness. Edward received his See also:early See also:education at See also:Wotton-under-Edge and See also:Cirencester, where he already showed a strong See also:taste for natural See also:history. The medical profession having been selected for him, he began his studies under See also:Daniel See also:Ludlow, a surgeon of Sodbury near See also:Bristol; but in his twenty-first See also:year he proceeded to See also:London, where he became a favourite See also:pupil of See also:John See also:Hunter, in whose See also:house he resided for two years. During this See also:period he was employed by See also:Sir See also:Joseph See also:Banks to arrange and prepare the valuable zoological specimens which he had brought back from See also:Captain See also:Cook's first voyage in 1771. He must have acquitted himself satisfactorily in this task, since he was offered the See also:post of naturalist in the second expedition, but declined it as well as other advantageous offers, preferring rather to practise his profession in his native See also:place, and near his eldest brother, to whom he was much attached. He was the See also:principal founder of a See also:local medical society, to which he contributed several papers of marked ability, in one of which he apparently anticipated later discoveries concerning rheumatic inflammations of the See also:heart. He maintained a See also:correspondence with John Hunter, under whose direction he investigated various points in See also:biology, particularly the See also:hibernation of hedgehogs and habits of the See also:cuckoo; his See also:paper on the latter subject was laid by Hunter before the Royal Society, and appeared in the Phil. Trans. for 1788. He also devoted considerable See also:attention to thevaried See also:geological See also:character of the See also:district in which he lived, and constructed the first See also:balloon seen in those parts.

He was a See also:

great favourite in See also:general society, from his agreeable and instructive conversation, and the many accomplishments he possessed. Thus he was a See also:fair musician, both as a See also:part See also:singer and as a per-former on the See also:violin and See also:flute, and a very successful writer, after the See also:fashion of that See also:time, of fugitive pieces of See also:verse. In 1788 he married See also:Catherine Kingscote, and in 1792 he obtained the degree of See also:doctor of See also:medicine from St See also:Andrews. Meanwhile the See also:discovery that is associated with his name had been slowly maturing in his mind. When only an apprentice at Sodbury, his attention had been directed to the relations between cow-pox and small-pox in connexion with a popular belief which he found current in Gloucestershire, as to the antagonism between these two diseases. During his stay in London he appears to have mentioned the thing repeatedly to Hunter, who, being engrossed by other important pursuits, was not so strongly persuaded as Jenner was of its possible importance, yet spoke of it to his See also:friends and in his lectures. After he began practice in Berkeley, Jenner was always accustomed to inquire what his professional brethren thought of it; but he found that, when medical men had noticed the popular See also:report at all, they supposed it to be based on imperfect See also:induction. His first careful investigation of the subject dated from about 1775, and five years elapsed before he had succeeded in clearing away the most perplexing difficulties by which it was surrounded. He first satisfied himself that two different forms of disease had been hitherto confounded under the See also:term cow-pox, only one of which protected against small-pox, and that many of the cases of failure were to be thus accounted for; and his next step was to ascertain that the true cow-pox itself only protects when communicated at a particular See also:stage of the disease. At the same time he came to the conclusion that " the grease " of horses is the same disease as cow-pox and small-pox, each being modified by the organism in which it was See also:developed. For many years, cow-pox being scarce in his county, he had no opportunity of inoculating the disease, and so putting his discovery to the test, but he did all he could in the way of See also:collecting See also:information and communicating what he had ascertained. Thus in 1788 he carried a See also:drawing of the cow-pox, as seen on the hands of a milkmaid, to London, and showed it to Sir E.

See also:

Home and others, who agreed that it was " an interesting and curious subject." At length, on the 14th of May 1796, he was able to inoculate See also:James Phipps, a boy about eight years old, with See also:matter from cow-pox vesicles on the See also:hand of Sarah Nelmes. On the 1st of the following See also:July the boy was carefully inoculated with variolous matter, but (as Jenner had predicted) no small-pox followed. The discovery was now See also:complete, but Jenner was unable to repeat his experiment until 1798, owing to the disappearance of cow-pox from the dairies. He then repeated his inoculations with the utmost care, and prepared a pamphlet (Inquiry into the Cause and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae) which should announce his discovery to the See also:world. Before See also:publishing it, however, he thought it well to visit London, so as to demonstrate the truth of his assertions to his friends; but he remained in London nearly three months, without being able to find any See also:person who would submit to be vaccinated. Soon after he had returned home, however, See also:Henry Cline, surgeon of St See also:Thomas's See also:Hospital, inoculated some vaccine matter obtained from him over the diseased See also:hip-See also:joint of a See also:child, thinking the See also:counter-irritation might be useful, and found the patient afterwards incapable of acquiring small-pox. In the autumn of the same year, Jenner met with the first opposition to vaccination; and this was the more formidable because it See also:pro-ceded from J. Ingenhousz, a celebrated physician and See also:man of See also:science. But meanwhile Cline's advocacy of vaccination brought it much more decidedly before the medical profession, of whom the See also:majority were prudent enough to suspend their See also:judgment until they had more ample information. But besides these there were two noisy and troublesome factions, one of which opposed vaccination as a useless and dangerous practice, while the other endangered its success much more by rash and self-seeking advocacy. At the See also:head of the latter was See also:George See also:Pearson, who in See also:November 1798 published a pamphlet speculating upon the subject, before even seeing a See also:case of cow-pox, and after-wards endeavoured, by lecturing on the subject and supplying the See also:virus, to put himself forward as the See also:chief See also:agent in the cause. The matter which he distributed, which had been derived from cows that were found to be infected in London, was found frequently to produce, not the slight disease described by Jenner, but more or less severe eruptions resembling small-pox.

Jenner concluded at once that this was due to an accidental contamination of the vaccine with variolous matter, and a visit to London in the See also:

spring of 1799 convinced him that this was the case. In the course of this year the practice of vaccination spread over See also:England, being urged principally by non-professional persons of position; and towards its See also:close attempts were made to found institutions for gratuitous vaccination and for supplying See also:lymph to all who might apply for it. Pearson proposed to establish one of these in London, without Jenner's knowledge, in which he offered him the post of honorary corresponding physician! On learning of this See also:scheme to supplant him, and to carry on an institution for public vaccination on principles which he knew to be partly erroneous, Jenner once more visited London early in 1800, when he had See also:influence enough to secure the See also:abandonment of the project. He was afterwards presented to the See also:king, the See also:queen and the See also:prince of See also:Wales, whose encouragement materially aided the spread of vaccination in England. Meanwhile it had made rapid progress in the See also:United States, where it was introduced by See also:Benjamin See also:Waterhouse, then See also:professor of physic at Harvard, and on the See also:continent of See also:Europe, where it was at first diffused by De Carro of See also:Vienna. In consequence of the See also:war between England and See also:France, the discovery was later in reaching See also:Paris; but, its importance once realized, it spread rapidly over France, See also:Spain and See also:Italy. A few of the incidents connected with its See also:extension may be mentioned. Perhaps the most striking is the expedition which was sent out by the See also:court of Spain in 1803, for the purpose of diffusing cow-pox through all the See also:Spanish possessions in the Old and New Worlds, and which returned in three years, ;having circumnavigated the globe, and succeeded beyond its utmost expectations. Clergymen in See also:Geneva and See also:Holland urged vaccination upon their parishioners from the See also:pulpit; in See also:Sicily, See also:South See also:America and See also:Naples religious processions were formed for the purpose of receiving it; the anniversary of Jenner's birthday, or of the successful vaccination of James Phipps, was for many years celebrated as a feast in See also:Germany; and the empress of See also:Russia caused the first child operated upon to receive the name of Vaccinov, and to be educated at the public expense. About the close of the year 18or Jenner's friends in See also:Gloucester-See also:shire presented him with a small service of See also:plate as in. testimonial of the esteem in which they held his discovery. This was in-tended merely as a preliminary to the presenting of a See also:petition to See also:parliament for a See also:grant.

The petition was presented in 18oz, and was referred to a See also:

committee, of which the investigations resulted in a report in favour of the grant, and ultimately in a See also:vote of £10,000. Towards the end of 18oz steps were taken to See also:form a society for the proper spread of vaccination in London, and the Royal Jennerian Society was finally established, Jenner returning to See also:town to preside at the first See also:meeting. This institution began very prosperously, more than twelve thousand persons having been inoculated in the first eighteen months, and with such effect that the deaths from small-pox, which for the latter See also:half of the 18th See also:century had averaged 2018 annually, See also:fell in 1804 to 622. Ulifortunately the chief See also:resident inoculator soon set himself up as an authority opposed to Jenner, and this led to such dissensions as caused the society to See also:die out in 18o8. Jenner was led, by the See also:language of the See also:chancellor of the ex-chequer when his grant was proposed, to See also:attempt practice in London, but after a year's trial he returned to Berkeley. His grant was not paid until 1804, and then, after the See also:deduction of about £r000 for fees, it did little more than pay the expenses attendant upon his discovery. For he was so thoroughly known every-where as the discoverer of vaccination that, as he himself said, hewas " the vaccine clerk of the whole world." At the same time he continued to vaccinate gratuitously all the poor who applied to him on certain days, so that he sometimes had as many as three See also:hundred persons waiting at his See also:door. Meanwhile honours began to shower upon him from abroad: he v4s elected a member of almost all the chief scientific See also:societies on the continent of Europe, the first being that of See also:Gottingen, where he was pro-posed by J. F. See also:Blumenbach. But perhaps the most flattering See also:proof of his influence was derived from France. On one occasion, when he was endeavouring to obtain the See also:release of some of the unfortunate Englishmen who had been detained in France on the sudden termination of the See also:Peace of See also:Amiens, See also:Napoleon was about to reject the petition, when See also:Josephine uttered the name of Jenner.

The See also:

emperor paused and exclaimed: " Ah, we can refuse nothing to that name." Somewhat later he did the same service to Englishmen confined in See also:Mexico and in See also:Austria; and during the latter part of the great war persons before leaving England would sometimes obtain certificates signed by him which served as passports. In his own See also:country his merits were less recognized. His applications on behalf of See also:French prisoners in England were less successful; he never shared in any of the patronage at the disposal of the See also:government, and was even unable to obtain a living for his See also:nephew George. In 1806 See also:Lord Henry See also:Petty (afterwards the See also:marquess of See also:Lansdowne) became chancellor of the See also:exchequer, and was so convinced of the inadequacy of the former See also:parliamentary grant that he proposed an address to the See also:Crown, praying that the See also:college of physicians should be directed to report upon the success of vaccination. Their report being strongly in its favour, the then chancellor of the exchequer (See also:Spencer See also:Perceval) proposed that a sum of £10,000 without any deductions should be paid to Jenner. The See also:anti-vaccinationists found but one See also:advocate in the House of See also:Commons; and finally the sum was raised to £20,000. Jenner, however, at the same time had the See also:mortification of learning that government did not intend to take any steps towards checking small-pox inoculation, which so persistently kept up that disease. About the same time a subscription for his benefit was begun in See also:India, where his discovery had been gratefully received, but the full amount of this (£7383) only reached him in 1812. The Royal Jennerian Society having failed, the See also:national vaccine See also:establishment was founded, for the extension of vaccination, in 1808. Jenner spent five months in London for the purpose of organizing it, but was then obliged, by the dangerous illness of one of his sons, to return to Berkeley. He had been appointed director of the institution; but he had no sooner See also:left London than Sir See also:Lucas See also:Pepys, See also:president of the college of physicians, neglected his recommendations, and formed the See also:board out of the officials of that college and the college of surgeons. Jenner at once resigned his post as director, though he continued to give the benefit of his See also:advice whenever it was needed, and this resignation was a See also:bitter mortification to him.

In 18,o his eldest son died, and Jenner's grief at his loss, and his incessant labours, materially affected his See also:

health. In 1813 the university of See also:Oxford conferred on him the degree of M.D. It was believed that this would See also:lead to his See also:election into the college of physicians, but that learned See also:body decided that he could not be admitted until he had undergone an examination in See also:classics. This Jenner at once refused; to See also:brush up his classics would, he said, " be irksome beyond measure. I would not do it for a diadem. That indeed would be a See also:bauble; I would not do it for John Hunter's museum." He visited London for the last time in 1814, when he was presented to the Allied Sovereigns and to most of the principal personages who accompanied them. In the next year his wife's See also:death was the See also:signal for him to retire from public See also:life: he never left Berkeley again, except for a See also:day or two, as long as he lived. He found sufficient occupation for the See also:remainder of his life in collecting further See also:evidence on some points connected with his great discovery, and in his engagements as a physician, a naturalist and a See also:magistrate. In 1818 a severe epidemic of small-pox prevailed, and fresh doubts were thrown on the efficacy of vaccination, in part apparently owing to the See also:bad quality of the vaccine lymph employed. This caused Jenner much annoyance, which was relieved by an able See also:defence of the practice, written by Sir See also:Gilbert See also:Blane. But this led him, in 1821, to send a circular See also:letter to most of the medical men in the See also:kingdom inquiring into the effect of other skin diseases in modifying the progress of cow-pox. A year later he published his last See also:work, On the Influence of Artificial Eruptions in Certain Diseases; and in 1823 he presented his last paper—" On the See also:Migration of Birds "—to the Royal Society.

On the 24th of See also:

January 1823 he retired to See also:rest apparently as well as usual, and next See also:morning See also:rose and came down to his library, where he was found insensible on the See also:floor, in a See also:state of See also:apoplexy, and with the right See also:side paralysed. He never rallied, and died on the following morning. A public subscription was set on See also:foot, shortly after his death, by the medical men of his county, for the purpose of erecting some memorial in his See also:honour, and with much difficulty a sufficient sum was raised to enable a statue to be placed in Gloucester See also:Cathedral. In 1850 another attempt was made to set up a See also:monument to him; this appears to have failed, but at length, in 1858, a statue of him was erected by public subscription in London. Jenner's life was written by the intimate friend of his later years, Dr John See also:Baron of Gloucester (2 vols., 1827, 1838). See also VACCINATION.

End of Article: JENNER, EDWARD (1749-1823)

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