Letters written during her travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa Volume 1

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1779 Excerpt: ... that you offer to her, with a large needle (which gives you no more pain than a common scrarch ) and puts into the vein, as much matter as can lie upon the head of her needle, and. after that, binds up the little wound with a hollow bit of shell, and in this manner opens four or five veins. The Grecians have commonly the superstition of opening one in the middle of the forehead, one in each arm, and one on the breast, to mark the sign osthe Cross; but this has a very ill effect, all these wounds leaving little scars, and is not done by those that are not superstitious, who chuse to have them in the legs, or that part osthe arm that is concealed. The children or young patients play together all the rest osthe day, and are in perfect nealth to the eighth. Then the fever begins to seize them, and they keep their beds two days, very seldom three. They have very rarely above twenty or thirty in their faces, which never marie, and in eight days time they are as well as before their illness. Where they are wounded, there remains running fores during the distemper, which I don't doubt is a great relief to it. Every year, thousands undergo this operation, and the French Ambassador seys pleasantly, that they take the smallpox here by way of diversion, as they take the waters in other countries. There is no example of any one that has died in it, and you may believe I am well satisfied osthe safety of this experiment, since I intend to try it on my dear little son. I am patriot enough to take the pains to bring this useful invention into fashion in England, and I should not fail to write to some of our doctors very particularly about it, if I knew any one of them that I thought had virtue enough to destroy such a considerable branch of their revenue, for the good of ...