小儿面色青白,或黧黑痿黄,无喜色无精采,两目黑多白少,白睛带青色,视瞻
歪斜,暗昧无神,囟陷囟填,解颅,囟不合,五软,五鞮,龟胸,龟背,鹤膝,鼻孔
小,气浊,声音不亮不长,肉不束,骨松如发面样,身体瘦无胭肉,身有廒敛疥疮,
腹有疳积,项有结核,病后元气未复,素有惊痫之证,失乳之后,气血不足,脾胃虚
弱,精神倦怠,脉不和平,以上皆不可种。
凡小儿父母,行事疏忽,不知调摄,不听禁忌,不信医药,过于溺爱娇纵者,亦
断不可与种。
种痘之时,要细阅小儿气血冲和,脏腑均平,内无痰热食积所伤,外无六淫之气
相侵,方可用上好痘痂种之,一岁者用二十余粒,三四岁者用三十余粒,置于净磁钟
内,以柳木作杵,碾为细末,以净水滴三五点入钟内,春温用,冬热用,干则再加水
几点,总以调匀为度,不燥不湿,用新棉些须摊极薄片,裹所调痘屑在内,捏成枣核
样,以红线拴定,仍留寸许,长则剪去,将苖纳入鼻孔,分男左女右,不可离人,时
时看守,倘小儿用手指拈弄,急禁止之,或被嚏出,急将苗塞鼻内,不可稍缓,恐泄
苗气,下苖后必以六个时辰为度,然后取出,如遇天气严寒,多留数刻,若遇时令和
暖,早取数刻亦可,要在临时斟酌,痘苗取出之后,其苗气渐次而入,传遍五藏,至
七日始发热,发热三日而苗见,见苖三日而出齐,出齐三日而灌浆,灌足三日而回水
结痂,大功成矣。
When a child's complexion is cyanotic and pale, or dark/blackish with sallow atrophy, lacking joyous expression and vitality; when the eyes show more black than white, the sclera has a bluish tint, gaze is slanted or dim and spiritless; when the fontanelle is sunken or bulging, there is delayed closure of the fontanelle (Jie Lu), the five softnesses (Wu Ruan - weakness of head, neck, mouth, hands, feet, and muscles), five rigidity/deformities (Wu Di), turtle chest (Gu Xiong), turtle back (Gu Bei), crane knee (He Xi); when nostrils are small, breath is turbid, voice is not resonant or long, muscles are lax, bones are loose like dough, body is emaciated without gluteal flesh, skin has scrofula or scabies, abdomen has infantile malnutrition (Gan Ji), neck has tubercles, post-illness Yuan Qi has not recovered, there is a history of fright convulsions or epilepsy, after weaning Qi and Blood are insufficient, Spleen and Stomach are weak, spirit is fatigued, pulse is unharmonious. All the above conditions contraindicate vaccination.
For children whose parents are negligent in conduct, unaware of proper care, disregard taboos, distrust medicine, or are overly doting and spoiling, vaccination must absolutely be avoided.
At the time of vaccination, one must carefully examine whether the child's Qi and Blood are harmonious, Zang-Fu organs are balanced, internally free from damage by phlegm-heat or food retention, and externally free from invasion by the Six Exogenous Pathogens (Liu Yin). Only then can high-quality variolae crusts be used for inoculation. For a one-year-old, use over twenty grains; for three to four years old, use over thirty grains. Place them in a clean porcelain mortar, grind into fine powder using a willow wood pestle. Add three to five drops of pure water to the mortar. In warm spring weather, use room temperature water; in cold winter weather, use warm/hot water. If it dries out, add a few more drops. The mixture should always be uniform, neither too dry nor too wet. Take a small amount of new cotton, spread it into an extremely thin sheet, wrap the prepared variolae powder inside, and pinch it into a date-pit shape. Secure it with a red thread, leaving about one cun of thread length; if longer, trim it off. Insert the seed into the nostril: left nostril for boys, right nostril for girls. Do not leave the child unattended; watch constantly. If the child fiddles with it using fingers, stop them immediately. If sneezed out, reinsert the seed into the nose immediately without delay, lest the efficacy of the seed be lost. After inserting the seed, keep it in place for six shichen (twelve hours) before removal. If the weather is severely cold, leave it for a bit longer; if the season is mild and warm, remove it a few ke (quarters of an hour) earlier. This requires discretion based on the situation. After removing the variolae seed, its qi gradually enters the body and spreads through the Five Zang Organs. Fever begins on the seventh day. After three days of fever, the rash appears. Three days after appearance, the lesions fully erupt. Three days after full eruption, they begin to suppurate (fill with pus). Three days after being fully filled, the fluid recedes and scabs form. The great task is accomplished.