Exploding Underwater Mountains, Boar Sex and Celery, Hidden History of Vaccination

Early Methods

Early inoculation methods were both innovative and risky, involving direct exposure to smallpox to build immunity. Rachel Feltman explains that variolation, as it was known, involved using smallpox scabs to create a powder, which was then blown up the patient's nose, a method called insufflation 1. This technique, while effective, was not without its dangers, as it could still result in severe illness or death 1. Sarah Chodosh notes that the principle of exposing individuals to a small number of viral particles to build immunity is similar to modern vaccination practices 2.

They would put it in a pipe and then blow it up the nose, and you would get a nice little dose of, you know, maybe some slightly herbaceous smallpox powder.

--- Rachel Feltman

This method was widely used in China and India by the 1500s, highlighting its historical significance 1.

   

Overlooked Figures

The history of inoculation is marked by overlooked contributors, such as Onesimus, an African slave who introduced the concept to New England. Rachel Feltman recounts how Onesimus shared his knowledge of inoculation with Cotton Mather, a Puritan preacher, despite Mather's initial distrust and racist views 3. This method, involving the introduction of smallpox pus into a cut, eventually gained acceptance during a smallpox epidemic in Boston in 1721 3.

He was bad. He owned a human, and it is thanks to that human that a bunch of people in America did not die of smallpox.

--- Rachel Feltman

The practice spread to England and beyond, with figures like Lady Mary Wortley Montagu advocating for its use, leading to widespread adoption and eventually the development of the smallpox vaccine 4.