Are you sure you don't mean cowpox? That was a related disease to smallpox. Interestingly, Jennings (sp)? invented the smallpox vaccine by observing that milkmaids rarely contracted smallpox due to their exposure to cowpox.
Actually, I think the name was Jenner.
"That was a related disease to smallpox. Interestingly, Jennings (sp)? invented the smallpox vaccine by observing that milkmaids rarely contracted smallpox due to their exposure to cowpox."
That is also the reason for the expression "milkmaiden skin" or similiar expressions --- cow pox did not scar the face.
As an aside, almost all adults (until recently) had small pox scars on their faces --- painters politely left them out as a matter of course.