Free Republic

HBO miniseries on "John Adams" demonstrates early form of vaccination for smallpox For many who watched Sunday night's airing of "John Adams," the new HBO series, one scene seemed almost barbaric: A doctor makes incisions with a lancet in the arms of Abigail Adams and her children and places smallpox material directly into the wounds. Abigail Adams believed that you could protect healthy people by injecting them with a deadly disease. Wouldn't that be just as dangerous as hanging around with the infected soldiers shown in the movie? No, Abigail knew what she was doing when she insisted that her...

RICHMOND, Va. - An outbreak of smallpox was the furthest thing from historian Dr. Paul Levengood's mind when his staff at the Virginia Historical Society put together an exhibit of "bizarre bits" that were added to the society's collection since its founding in 1831, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. There was Confederate president Jefferson Davis's cigar, confiscated by Union troops. There was a fungus carving of Robert E. Lee on his horse, Traveller, and a wreath made of human hair. Then someone mentioned a letter, handwritten and dated 1876, with what appeared to be a smallpox scab pinned inside...