1. The Speckled Monster
Activity (c)

3. PS1

4. Dr Jenner’s Questions PS3
Interview each person and record details of their case in the table below.
PS3
Name of character
Have you ever had cowpox?
If yes, when?
How bad was it?
Have you ever been in contact with anyone who has smallpox?
If so, whom?
Did you catch smallpox?

5. Character preparation
PS4a
Character preparation
Read the extract from Dr Jenner’s publication and note down the answers to the questions so that you are prepared to play your real-life character.
Joseph Merret, now a gardener to the Earl of Berkeley, lived as a servant with a farmer near this place in the year Sometimes he helped in milking his master’s cows. One day the cows became infected with cowpox, and soon after several sores appeared on Joseph’s hands. He was ill for several days and couldn’t carry out his normal work.
There is no record of Joseph being in contact with anyone with smallpox.
What is your name?
Have you ever had cowpox?
If yes, when was this?
How bad was it?
Have you had contact with anyone who has smallpox? If so, whom?
Did you catch smallpox?

6. PS4b

7. Character preparation
PS5a
Character preparation
Read the extract from Dr Jenner’s publication and note down the answers to the questions so that you are prepared to play your real-life character.
Sarah Portlock, of this place, was infected with the cow-pox when a servant at a farmer’s in the neighbourhood, twenty-seven years ago. In the year 1792, thinking herself, from this circumstance, secure from the infection of smallpox, she nursed one of her own children who had accidentally caught the disease, but no illness was caught.
What is your name?
Have you ever had cowpox?
If yes, when was this?
How bad was it?
Have you had contact with anyone who has smallpox? If so, whom?
Did you catch smallpox?

8. PS5b

9. Character preparation
PS6a
Character preparation
Read the extract from Dr Jenner’s publication and note down the answers to the questions so that you are prepared to play your real-life character.
Mrs. H——, a respectable gentlewoman of this town, had cowpox when very young. Her hands had many of the cowpox sores upon them, and they were passed to her nose, which became inflamed and very much swollen. Soon after this event Mrs. H—— was exposed to an outbreak of smallpox, where it was scarcely possible for her to have escaped, had she been susceptible of it, as she regularly looked after a relative who had the disease so badly that he died.
Mrs H did not catch smallpox from her relative.
What is your name?
Have you ever had cowpox?
If yes, when was this?
How bad was it?
Have you had contact with anyone who has smallpox? If so, whom?
Did you catch smallpox?

10. PS6b

11. Character preparation
PS7a
Character preparation
Read the extract from Dr Jenner’s publication and note down the answers to the questions so that you are prepared to play your real-life character.
Elizabeth Wynne, aged fifty-seven, lived as a servant with a neighbouring farmer thirty-eight years ago. She was then a dairymaid, and the cowpox broke out among the cows. She caught the disease with the rest of the family, but, compared with them, had it in a very slight degree, one very small sore only breaking out on the little finger of her left hand, and scarcely any perceptible illness following it.
There is no record of Elizabeth being in contact with anyone with smallpox.
What is your name?
Have you ever had cowpox?
If yes, when was this?
How bad was it?
Have you had contact with anyone who has smallpox? If so, whom?
Did you catch smallpox?

12. PS7a
PS7b

13. Character preparation
PS4a
Character preparation
Read the extract from Dr Jenner’s publication and note down the answers to the questions so that you are prepared to play your real-life character.
William Summers, a child of five years and a half old, was vaccinated with matter taken from an infected cow. He became unwell on the sixth day, vomited once, and felt the usual slight symptoms till the eighth day, when he appeared perfectly well.
There is no record to say whether William was ever exposed to smallpox in the future.
What is your name?
Have you ever had cowpox?
If yes, when was this?
How bad was it?
Have you had contact with anyone who has smallpox? If so, whom?
Did you catch smallpox?

14. PS8b

15. Dr Jenner’s case studies
PS9
Dr Jenner’s case studies
A researcher colleague of yours has mixed up Jenner’s case studies and accidentally omitted the names from the original data!
You need to match the earlier character descriptions with the correct case studies in Jenner’s publication. Additionally, look at the Roman numerals on the case studies, so you can write the names in the right boxes below. Note that we are only studying a small selection of Jenner’s case studies, so you will not have a name in each box.
Number of case study
Character name 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.

16. PS10

17. PS11
PS11

18. Dr Jenner’s smallpox tests
Complete the first two columns. Then look at Dr Jenner’s publication records to fill in the last two columns.
PS12
Name
of case
Do you predict that the character will or will not catch smallpox when smallpox matter is inserted into their skin?
How confident are you?
Very sure
Quite sure
Don’t know
Did the person catch smallpox?
Has the person been in contact with anyone with smallpox since?
Did the person catch smallpox?
Joseph Merret
Sarah Portlock
Mrs H_
Elizabeth Wynne
William Summers

19. Dr Jenner’s publication ~ The results
PS13
Dr Jenner’s publication ~ The results
Sarah Portlock
Elizabeth Wynne
During the time in 1792 that she lived in a room with infected people, smallpox matter was inserted into both her arms, but without any illness resulting.
As her illness from cowpox had shown itself in so slight a manner, and as it had taken place at so long ago, I was happy to have the opportunity of finding out the effect of inserting smallpox matter into her body. On the 28th of March, 1797, I inoculated her by making two shallow cuts on the left arm, on which the smallpox matter was cautiously rubbed. A tingling sensation was felt about the parts where the matter was inserted until the third day. As early as the fifth day it was clear that no illness would follow.
Joseph Merret
In April, 1795, a general inoculation taking place here in Berkeley, Merret was inoculated [smallpox pus was put in his arm] along with the rest of his family. However, though the smallpox matter was repeatedly inserted into his arm, I found that I was unable to infect him with it. During the whole time that his family had smallpox, one of whom had it very badly, he remained in the house with them, but received no injury from exposure to the disease.
Mrs H
In the year 1778 there were many smallpox cases at Berkeley, and Mrs. H—— not feeling perfectly satisfied about her safety (although she did not get ill after exposure to smallpox), I inoculated her with active smallpox matter. She did not get ill from the smallpox matter.
William Summers
Dr Jenner did not provide further information about William Summers.

20. Dr Jenner’s publication ~ A mystery entry
PS14
Dr Jenner’s publication ~ A mystery entry
This entry in Dr Jenner’s publication does not give the name of the boy.
Who do you think he might have been?
Complete the last column in your Dr Jenner’s smallpox tests table.
In order to observe the progress of the infection I selected a healthy boy, about eight years old, for the purpose of inoculation with cow-pox. The matter was taken from a sore on the hand of a dairymaid, who was infected by her master’s cows, and it was inserted, on the 14th of May, 1796, into the arm of the boy by means of cuts in the skin, each about half an inch long.
On the seventh day he complained of uneasiness in the armpit, and on the ninth he became a little chilly, lost his appetite, and had a slight headache. During the whole of this day he was perceptibly indisposed, and spent the night with some degree of restlessness, but on the day following he was perfectly well.
In order to find out whether the boy, after feeling so slightly ill from the cow-pox virus, was safe from catching smallpox, he was inoculated the 1st of July following with smallpox matter. This was taken from a pustule of a person who had the disease.
Several slight cuts were made on both the boy’s arms, and the matter was carefully inserted. No disease followed.
Several months afterwards he was again inoculated with smallpox matter, but he did not get ill.

21. Dr Jenner’s publication
PS15
Dr Jenner’s publication
A mystery entry

22. Dr Jenner vs the Speckled Monster
Cowpox was a mild disease that milkmaids caught from milking infected ________ .
Although some farmers knew that people who had caught cowpox never caught smallpox, Dr Jenner’s stroke of genius was to realise that, if this were true, people could be deliberately infected with cowpox. This would be an easy and safe way to protect everybody from the dreaded smallpox, which was also known as the _______________________.
In order to test his theory, Dr Jenner made ______________ of people who had caught cowpox naturally from milking cows. He noticed that none of these people had ever caught _____________ , even after coming in close contact with other people with the disease.

23. Dr Jenner then did _____________________ on people who had naturally caught cowpox, to test if they were immune to smallpox. He did this by inserting smallpox pus into their _________ and seeing if they got unwell.
His most famous experiment was on a boy called __________. First, Dr Jenner deliberately infected him with ______________. He did this using pus from the hand of a _____________ who had cowpox.
He called this________________.
Then, several weeks later, in order to test whether the cowpox had protected the boy from _______________,Dr Jenner put smallpox pus into the boy’s arm.
The boy did not get unwell from the smallpox pus. This showed that the cowpox had given the boy _____________ to smallpox.
cowpox
Speckled Monster
vaccination
James
immunity
observations
smallpox
cows
arms
milkmaid
experiments

24. Answers

25. Dr Jenner’s Questions: ANSWERS
Name of Character
Have you ever had cowpox?
If yes, when was this? How bad was it?
Have you ever been in contact with anyone who has smallpox? If yes, whom?
Did you catch smallpox?
Joseph Merret
(Case I)
Yes
1770, Ill for several days and couldn’t work No
No record
Sarah Portlock
(Case II)
27 years ago
Yes – nursed children
Mrs H
(Case 5)
When very young Produced cowpox sores
Yes – nursed a relative who died
Elizabeth Wynne
(Case VIII)
30 years ago. Only very slightly ill
William Summers
(Case XIX)
Yes - given from a cow by Jenner
Slightly ill, Vomited
James Phipps
(Case XVII)
Yes - given from a dairy maid by Jenner
Uncomfortable arm pit, chilly, slight head ache and loss of appetite
Yes – inoculated by Jenner with smallpox from an infected person

26. Dr Jenner’s Cases: ANSWERS
Number of case study
Character name 1.
Joseph Merret 2.
Sarah Portlock 3. 4. 5.
Mrs H___ 6. 7. 8.
Elizabeth Wynne 9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
James Phipps
18.
19.
William Summers
20.
21.
22.
23.

27. Dr Jenner’s Smallpox Tests: ANSWERS
Name of character
Do you predict that the person will or will not catch smallpox when smallpox matter is inserted into the skin?
How confident are you?
Very sure
Quite sure
Don’t know
Did the person catch smallpox?
Has the person been in contact with anyone with smallpox since? Did the person catch smallpox?
Joseph Merret
(Case I)
Will not
Quite sure because it is known that people who catch cowpox don’t seem to catch smallpox (why?) No
No record
Sarah Portlock
(Case II)
Yes her family but she did not become ill
Mrs H_
(Case 5)
Very sure because she did not catch smallpox from children (explain why)
Yes, she nursed a relative who died, but she did not become ill
Elizabeth Wynne
(Case VIII)
William Summers
(Case XIX)
James Phipps
(Case XVII)
Quite sure because he did get ill from the cowpox that Jenner gave him. The cowpox gave James immunity to smallpox

28. Dr Jenner vs the Speckled Monster
Cowpox was a mild disease that milkmaids caught from milking infected cows.
Although some farmers knew that people who had caught cowpox never caught smallpox, Dr Jenner’s stroke of genius was to realise that, if this were true, people could be deliberately infected with cowpox. This would be an easy and safe way to protect everybody from the dreaded smallpox, which was also known as the Speckled Monster.
In order to test his theory, Dr Jenner made observations of people who had caught cowpox naturally from milking cows. He noticed that none of these people had ever caught smallpox, even after coming in close contact with other people with the disease.

29. Dr Jenner then did experiments on people who had naturally caught cowpox, to test if they were immune to smallpox. He did this by inserting smallpox pus into their arms and seeing if they got unwell.
His most famous experiment was on a boy called James. First, Dr Jenner deliberately infected him with cowpox. He did this using pus from the hand of a milkmaid who had cowpox.
He called this vaccination.
Then, several weeks later, in order to test whether the cowpox had protected the boy from smallpox, Dr Jenner put smallpox pus into the boy’s arm.
The boy did not get unwell from the smallpox pus. This showed that the cowpox had given the boy immunity to smallpox.
cowpox
Speckled Monster
vaccination
James
immunity
observations
smallpox
cows
arms
milkmaid
experiments

30. This activity was produced by the Association for Science Education
© ASE and James Films
This activity was produced by the Association for Science Education
in partnership with James Films