152 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS [Feb. 5,

mitting their best and purest bred heifers to be operated upon,
except at a rate of compensation, which the insufficiency of
the appropriation for the past year, would not justify.

Although a Merciful Providence has kept from our borders
epidemics of small-pox, (only three cases having been re-
ceived at the Pest Hospital at Baltimore during the year,)
the virus as furnished by this Agency has been in quite
active demand, and I think I can say, with pardonable
pride, has grown in favor with the Medical Profession of the
State.

During the year, 575 orders from physicians of different
parts of the State have been filled, and the total amount of
5,914 quills, charged with virus, has been sent to these gen-
tlemen without any charge whatever, to them personally.
Although to each applicant a blank is furnished for the pur-
pose of making a "report of results of vaccination." I regret
to state that in very mtny instances these are not returned.
From those returned however, I find that about ninty per
cent, of vaccinations in primary cases are successful, thus
giving, as the result of our work, to quite a large number of
our future citizens, protection against the ravages of that ter-
rible scourge, small-pox.

While it is fair to suppose that 5,000 have been successful
out of the 5,914 vaccinations, we must not lose sight of the
fact that still a great number are allowed through neglect or
prejudice to go without this protection, and thus afford food
for future epidemics. This suggests the importance of im-
pressing upon the Legislative and corporate authorities of
our State the necessity, as well as the wisdom, of inaugura-
ting measures to secure effective vaccine protection to all our
citizens, and to make the neglect to secure this protection a
criminal offence. In our judgment, compulsory vaccination
is the only effectual safeguard against the dangers entailed
on our communities by neglect, by delay, by indifference, by
prejudice, by ignorance and willfulness , and until such a law
is passed, and rigidly executed, our cities and villages are
and will ever be exposed to recurring epidemics.

To show that vaccination does decrease the death rate from
small-pox, is hardly pertinent to this report, but as a matter
of general interest the following statistics may serve a good
purpose. In Scotland vaccination was made compulsory in
1864; for the ten years previous the yearly average of deaths
from small-pox was 1,054. In 1865 it fell to 175 ; in 1867
to 124 ; in 1868 to 25.

In Ireland vaccination was made compulsory the same
year. The average mortality from small-pox had been from,