Cowpox is tested as smallpox protection

Jack and his young son Jackey were enslaved by Boylston; their participation in this experiment must not be portrayed as freely chosen.

Onesimus, enslaved by Cotton Mather, had earlier described an African inoculation method that shaped advocacy during the epidemic.

Boylston treated his own son and two people he enslaved, while Asian, African and Ottoman variolation practices long predated Boston’s experiment.

Jenner transferred material from milkmaid Sarah Nelmes’s cowpox lesion to the eight-year-old boy.

Sarah Nelmes supplied the cowpox material used in the experiment; she should be included in the account of the procedure.

The experiment helped develop a distinct smallpox vaccine; variolation had already been practiced in Asia and parts of Africa.

Morton administered ether while Warren operated on Abbott at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Abbott was the patient in a highly publicized demonstration; earlier ether procedures also existed.

The public operation helped spread the use of inhaled anesthesia in surgery.

The demonstration showed that ether could reduce pain; the quality and completeness of Abbott’s anesthesia have been debated.