ABSTRACT

Smallpox was a horrible disease that covered the skin with pus-filled blisters and often killed its victims. Those who survived wore the scars for the rest of their lives. Once a person had smallpox, he or she was immune. In 1000 CE, Chinese doctors had already discovered how to inoculate people against smallpox. They collected scabs from smallpox patients, ground them up, and blew the powder into the noses of healthy children. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, his wife attended a smallpox party in Constantinople. In 1722, Princess Caroline of England wanted to have her daughters inoculated against smallpox, but she wanted to make sure that it was safe for the girls. Lady Montagu told her friends that the people suffered a mild form of the pox and were not scarred for life. Many young ladies and gentlemen became gravely ill from the makeup they were using to hide their smallpox scars.