JOHN DIX FISHER (1797-1850). Description of the distinct confluent, and inoculated small pox, varioloid disease, cow pox, and chicken pox. 2nd ed. Boston, 1834  
Our copy has six vaccination needles inserted into the margins of two of the pages, seemingly indicating the book may have been used as a treatment room reference tool.

Fisher graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1825 and went to Paris where he spent the next two years studying under Laennec, Andral, and Velpeau. Fisher was present at Massachusetts General Hospital when ether was introduced into surgery and was one of the first to use it during childbirth.

Fisher founded the Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston, was its physician, and was a proponent of education for the blind. The paintings from which the plates were engraved were made when Fisher was studying at Paris in 1825 and were available for this edition. The delicately colored plates, drawn from life, illustrate the various forms and stages of pox and varioloid disease as recognized by the author.

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