M 93
15. The next stage brings us to the 19th year of Emperor Tao Kwong of the Ching Dynasty (A.D. 1829). Dr. Jenner of England, during a very severe epidemic there, discovered the existence of pox on the udder—light blue in colour—of cows. He drew lymph from the two light blue coloured pox and vaccinated the lymph into bullocks. Then he drew lymph from the bullocks and vaccinated them into the arms of human beings. By this means he discovered a method of vaccination which has stood the test of time, for it is obvious that lymph from human beings cannot be absolutely safe, since such lymph may contain the germs of many human diseases such as tuberculosis, leprosy, venereal diseases, etc., so man may be safe from smallpox, he may, because of the diseased lymph, contract another malady. Lymph from cows is therefore safer because it is always easier to examine a cow before lymph is extracted from it.
16. When Dr. Jenner introduced vaccination in England, a Cantonese by the name of Yau Ho Chuen (I) was there at that time and he studied this method as thoroughly as he could and returned to Canton and vaccinated over a hundred thousand children without a single fatal case of smallpox. He tried his best to persuade his countrymen to substitute the use of cow lymph for human lymph but at that time opinion was so conservative that it took fifty years before the use of cow lymph became popular.
17. I, myself, remember seeing, over 50 years ago, several cases of vaccination by means of human lymph at the Tung Wah Hospital. Nowadays, of course, the Tung Wah Hospital no longer uses such a method. China, too, has discarded it, though occasionally in the interior we still hear of cases of the use of human lymph as the medium of vaccination because cow lymph is sometimes unobtainable.
18. In the old days we in Hong Kong used to get cow lymph direct from Great Britain, the journey occupying 1 to 2 months. The voyage through the Suez Canal being at times very hot, the lymph often got spoiled so that when they were used for vaccination they proved ineffective and naturally gave no protection to the unsuspecting persons who were vaccinated with these defective lymphs.
19. Many years later, lymph was imported from Bangkok instead of Great Britain, and this not only meant a saving of time but also the certainty of having fresher lymph. To-day the lymph which is used is absolutely fresh because it is prepared in Hong Kong.
20. The Hong Kong Government has been doing its utmost in every way to induce the public to get vaccinated without any charge. Now the Government is going still further for the sake of the lives of you all, by means of a house-to-house campaign to vaccinate those who have not yet been vaccinated.
I want to urge you all, once again, not to neglect this very important measure of precaution.
21. Some time in October last I mentioned to various friends and relatives of mine that by the next Spring, that is, during the early part of 1938, there must be a lot of measles, smallpox, meningitis and similar disease in the Colony, they wondered why. I then pointed out to them that after every war, disease and pestilence would follow. One need only to notice the large number of guns fired and bombs thrown to realise the prodigious amount of poison which has been filling the air for many months up North. Add to this the fact that many dead bodies have been decomposing during the whole period of hostilities and you will realise how polluted the air is and has been for some time. The poison of gun-powder and of decomposed bodies is carried everywhere by the help of wind and later we in South China must get a share of this poison. Recently, the foggy and damp weather has added to the foulness of the atmosphere. It is only natural therefore for smallpox, measles, meningitis, etc. to flourish.
22. Now, I ask you all to do your utmost to help the Government by persuading all your friends and relatives to get vaccinated at once. Above all, I would urge the parents to get their children vaccinated. All parents have a very serious responsibility, for if they fail to vaccinate their children and then because
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15. The next stage brings us to the 19th year of Emperor Tao Kwong of the Ching Dynasty (A.D. 1829). Dr. Jenner of England, during a very severe epidemic there, discovered the existence of pox on the udder-light blue in colour -of cows. He drew lymph from the two light blue coloured pox and vaccinated the lymph into bullocks. Then he drew lymph from the bullocks and vaccinated them into the arms of human beings. By this means he discovered a method of vaccination which has stood the test of time, for it is obvious that lymph from human beings cannot be absolutely safe, since such lymph may contain the germs of many human diseases such as tuberculosis, leprosy, venereal diseases, etc., so man may be safe from smallpox, he inay, because of the diseased lymph, contract another malady. Lymph from cows is therefore safer because it is always easier to examine a cow before lymph is extracted from it.
16. When Dr. Jenner introduced vaccination in England, a Cantonese by the name of Yau Ho Chuen (I) was there at that time and he studied this method as thoroughly as he could and returned to Canton and vaccinated over a hundred thousand children without a single fatal case of smallpox. He tried his best to persuade his countrymen to substitute the use of cow lymph for human lymph but at that time opinion was so conservative that it took fifty years before the use of cow lymph became popular.
17. I, myself, remember seeing, over 50 years ago, several cases of vaccina- tion by means of human lymph at the Tung Wah Hospital. Nowadays, of course the Tung Wah Hospital no longer uses such a method. China, too, has discarded it, though occasionally in the interior we still hear of cases of the use of human lymph as the medium of vaccination because cow lymph is sometimes unobtainable.
18. In the old days we in Hong Kong used to get cow lymph direct from Great Britain, the journey occupying 1 to 2 months. The voyage through the Suez Canal being at times very hot, the lymph often got spoiled so that when they were used for vaccination they proved ineffective and naturally gave no protection to the unsuspecting persons who were vaccinated with these defective lymphs.
19. Many years later, lymph was imported from Bangkok instead of Great Britain, and this not only meant a saving of time but also the certainty of having fresher lymph. To-day the lymph which is used, is absolutely fresh because it is prepared in Hong Kong.
20. The Hong Kong Government has been doing its utmost in every way to induce the public to get vaccinated without any charge. Now the Government is going still further for the sake of the lives of you all, by means of a house-to-house campaign to vaccinate those who have not yet been vaccinated.
I want to urge you
all, once again, not to neglect this very important measure of precaution.
21. Some time in October last I mentioned to various friends and relatives of mine that by the next Spring, that is, during the early part of 1938, there must be a lot of measles, smallpox, meningitis and similar disease in the Colony, they wondered why. I then pointed out to them that after every war, disease and pestilence would follow. One need only to notice the large number of guns fired and bombs thrown to realise the prodigious amount of poison which has been filling the air for many months up North. Add to this the fact that many dead bodies have been decomposing during the whole period of hostilities and you will realise how polluted the air is and has been for some time. The poison of gun-powder and of decomposed bodies is carried everywhere by the help of wind and later we in South China must get a share of this poison. Recently, the foggy and damp weather has added to the foulness of the atmosphere. It is only natural therefore for smallpox, measles, meningitis, etc. to flourish.
22. Now, I ask you all to do your utmost to help the Government by persuading all your friends and relatives to get vaccinated at once. Above all, I would urge the parents to get their children vaccinated. All parents have a very serious responsibility, for if they fail to vaccinate their children and then because
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