J. Antall szerk.: Medical history in Hungary 1972. Presented to the XXIII. International Congress of the History of Medicine / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 6. (Budapest, 1972)

I. Friedrich: The Spreading of Jenner's Vaccination in Hungary

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2 Medical History in Hungary 1972 (Comm. Hist. Artis Med. Suppl. 6.) a short time the vaccination of variola will he a common thing in the country of Transylvania.

.. Be sure that I will not forget even in the future to requit your kind informations."

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4 József Szotyori, who was the first vaccinator in Transylvania wrote the following from Marosvásárhely to Vienna in 1802: "The fact that Counts Lajos Teleki and Sámuel Bethlen, Barons Bálinti and Szentkereszti together with the Professors had their not yet variolous children inoculated with the small pox

, gave a great reputation to vaccinia in our neighbourhood."

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5 Another doctor of medicine in Transylvania discloses that doctors sent material for vaccinations and vaccination lancets to each other as well: "The impregnated steel lancet has arrived rustity, I vaccinated with it, but it has not taken

. Every day more and more people decided to get themselves variolated. The list of these persons and the experiences in connection with them will be sent by your obedient servant Elek Bod Nagy Szeben, 1801"

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6 Finally, the last category of enlightenment in print consisted of those short —mostly one or two pages long

—appeals and other prints which were given to the parents or god-parents at baptism, or to the young couple at the wedding ceremony by the clergyman. A three and a half pages long print from 1808 called the attention of married couples to variolation and at the same time it informed them that it was free of charge and available whenever they wanted it. It warned the prospective parents that if they miss the opportunity to have their children inoculated they have to answer for it before God, the sovereign and their fellow-men.

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7 Another print in the possession of our museum (the time of its appearance is unknown), recommends inoculation to "Good Parents" to be vaccinated as well. It resolved their anxiety about the allegedly dangerous character of variola and mentioned that participation in this benefit was rendered possible by royal decrees.

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8 In addition to printed information for enlightenment and teaching the stubborn uncertainity and ignorance of the people was tried to be encountered by the power of the spoken word, too. The latter was made to be the task of the priests, according to the decree of the Consilium locum tenentiale passed in 1804. The physician Mihály Ková s favoured the latter method. ".As though there 4

4 Várađi, Sámuel: A tehén himlő avagy a vaktzina természetének és terjesztése módjainak rövid előadása (A Short Lecture on the Nature of Cow-pox or Vaccine and on the ways of Its Spreading). Bécs, 1802. p. 203—204. 4

5 Ibid. p. 216. 4

6 Ibid. p. 218. 4

7 The Historical Documenta ion of the Semmelweis Medical Historical Museum. Doc. No. 9326. 71.20.2. 20×32 cm. 4

8 The Historical Documentation of the Semmelweis Medical Historical Museum. 71.20.1. 20×32,5 cm.