innoculation

• One theory about preventing smallpox was that it had been noticed that some people who caught a milder form of smallpox, recovered and never caught it again. 

  Some tried to infect themselves with smallpox with the idea that they would avoid catching a more severe form.  This worked for some there were still deaths. 
• A small cut was made in the patient’s arm before dropping in pus taken from the swelling of someone with a mild form of smallpox.
• Inoculation was expensive and only the rich could afford it.  Some doctors made a fortune carrying out inoculations.  

  eg Dr. Thomas Dimsdale inoculated Catherine the Great and her children in 1768.  As a reward he was made a baron and paid £10,000.  Being a smallpox ‘inoculator’ was very profitable!