Page:New observations on inoculation - Angelo Gatti.djvu/76

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On the TREATMENT.

and by this experiment, he will find that one pustule is a sufficient security against any new infection, as has appeared in England, where this trial has often been made.

Again it may be asked, whether one can, indeed, have the small-pox but once? This question has been much canvassed, and perhaps not yet-fully decided; but its being a matter of debate, shews that the case of a relapse, if real, is exceedingly rare; and those who pretend to say that it is frequent, and yet make no scruple of exposing themselves to the infection, either say what they do not think, or do not think of what they say. For my own part I declare, I have never seen a true small-pox twice in the same person; and were it true that a very small number of people are liable to catch it again, I still believe that inoculation, rightly managed, would preserve the far greater part of those who fall victims to the natural small-pox, and consequently must be judged a most important discovery for the good of mankind.

CONCLU-