The Wasp — 1880 — page 300: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily text-based editorial content rather than illustrated satire. The main article, "The Wasp," discusses vaccination as disease prevention, referencing a specific case where a vaccinated boy survived smallpox while unvaccinated children died. The editorial argues for vaccination's effectiveness against the "virus," citing statistics from London deaths. It mocks skeptics of vaccination and defends the practice against critics who view it with suspicion. The page also contains brief news items about Chinese doctors in San Francisco and references to Venus's planetary conjunction. The tone is argumentative and pro-scientific medicine, typical of 1880s public health debates when vaccination remained controversial among some populations.