Cassem Aga FRS on small-pox inoculation, translated from Arabic, 1729 (larger version). Aga provided a first hand account of inoculation and its safety record in ‘Tripoly, Tunis and Algier’, noting it was practised by both townsmen ‘and wild Arabs’ (meaning nomadic tribesmen).
Introduction
In the 18th century a small-pox epidemic hit London. Little was known about the disease in England, so Fellows of the Royal Society turned to the Muslim physician al-Razi to learn about the disease. They also investigated methods of inoculation, an immunisation practice that was common in the Muslim word, where healthy people were given a mild dose of the virus from an infected person.
From innoculation to vaccination
Doctors working in the Ottoman Empire as physicians to the British Embassy in Constantinople or the English Factory in Aleppo were among the first to write letters home about inoculation. English people were still cautious about the practice because of its recent introduction in Europe.