JEN'NER, EnwAnn (1749-18•3). An English physician, the discoverer of vaccination as a pre ventive of smallpox. Ile was born at Berkeley in Gloucestershire, where his father was vicar. With a view' to his entrance into the medical profession, young Jenner was a pp ren t iced to Daniel Ludlow of Sodbury, to lea mu surgery and pharmacy. In 1770 he went to London and be came a student at Saint George's Hospital. and was a resident, for two years, in the family of John Hunter. Under Hunter's recommendation, young Jenner received the appointment to prepare and arrange the specimens of fauna and flora brought home by Captain Cook from his first voyage of discovery in 1771. Jenner's success in this matter led to his being offered the po sition of naturalist of Cook's second expedition, whieh he declined. Ile preferred life in a village, and became a country surgeon in Berke ley, devoting the time not required by the prac tice of his profession to ornithology, botany, and mineralogy. Jenner appears to have been the first to suggest that angina pectoris is clue to hardening of the coronary arteries. He also de scribed the implication of the heart in cases of rheumatism, of which he was probably the discov erer. &prier's treatise on ophthalmia has never been published. In 1792 he was invested with the degree of :\1.D. by the University of Saint Andrews, Scotland.
The discovery of the prophylactic power of vac cination. on which denner's fame chiefly rests, wak communicated to Edward Gardner in 1780. Jenner had given roueli thought ;111,1 time to the study of smallpox, cowpox, and swinepox, and the development of the two latter diseases when com municated to man. Ile at first considered cow pox to be caused by the contagion of 'grease,' a hoof disease of horses. ln conversation with Hunter in 1770, lie had suggested the possibil ity of the prophylactic power of cowpox. A dread of disappointment influenced hhn to spend many years in observation and investiga tion before promulgating his discovery. He in oculated his son with swinepox. and ascertained that the boy was proof against smallpox. :Termer performed his first public inoculation with vac cine on May 14, 1796. After passing through the disease of vaccinia, the patient was exposed to smallpox by having its virus introduced into his arms, but without effect. Subsequent experi ments yielded similar results. In 1798 lie pub lished the paper on vaccination, detailing the whole matter and stating his belief and his proofs. In the same year he visited London. in order to demonstrate the truth of his assertions; but he was unable to prevail upon any one to submit to vaccination, and was bitterly attacked by both physicians and clergymen. In one year, however, a revulsion of feeling took place, and a large number of leading physicians in the capital city declared. over their signatures, their confidence in vaccination, and the day was won.
Jenner's high principle and pure motives were shown in his refusal to accept the suggestion of Cline,of SaimtTLonas'dlospitaLtothe effect that he should settle in London. where Cline promised him £10,000 a year as a result of his practice. Jenner gave almost his entire time to the demon stration and defense of his discovery, and his practice s nearly annihilated. A petition to Parliament by his friends resulted in a vote of £10,000 to in 1802, and he received a second grant of £20,000 in 1807. Vet inoculation, iu spite of the fact that many deaths resulted from it, was continued at the Smallpox hospital in London till 1822. In 1811 Jenner received a diamond ring from the Empress of Russia as a token of her admiration. She had the first child vaccinated in Russia named `Vaceinoff! and pensioned it for life. Jenner was named the first Honorary Associate of the Physieal Society of Guy's; he was elected mayor of his native town; he received the freedom of the city of Dublin and of the city of Edinburgh; he was elected an hon or:11•N- fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh; Oxford granted him the degree of Diletor in Medicine; the naval physicians and surgeons presented a gold medal to the discoverer, upon the adoption of vaccination in the British Army and Navy. France, Germany. Italy, Spain, Russia, and the United ,States adopted the prac tice of vaccination. The Hindus and the Chi nese followed the example. In the East, the appreciation of dinner's labors and achievements was shown in public subscriptions of £4000 from 1:engal, £2000 from Bombay, and £1383 from Madras. A statue of Jenner was placed in Gloucester Cathedral as a result of a public sub scription, and in 1858 a statue was erected in London. In 1815, upon the death of his wife, Jenner retired to Berkeley, where be died of apo plexy.
Among denner's published works are: "On the Natural History of the Cuckoo." in Philosophical Transactions ( 178S) ; "A Process for Preparing Pure Emetic Tarta•," ibid. (1793) ; Inquiry into the Cause and Effcct of the Variolw •aceinm (1798) ; Farther Observations on the 1 accim• (1799) ; .1 Continuation of Parts and Observations Relative to 1•ariolcr Faceinw (1800) ; A Complete Statement of Pacts and Ob servations Relative to the Co•-Pock (1800) ; On the Origin of Porcine Inoculation (1801) ; On the Varieties and Modifications of the Vaccine Pus tule, Occasioned by an flerpetic State of the Skin (1804) ; on the Distemper in Dogs," in Transactions of the Medieo-Chiru•yiral Society (1809) ; "Two Cases of Smallpox Infec tion', Communicated to the Firths in Urtero," (1809) ; A Letter to C. TI, Parry. on the Influ ence of Artificial Eruptions in Certain Disrages Incidental to the Bunion Body (1822). Consult Baron, Life of ,Termer (2 vols., London, 1838). See VACCINATION.