High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Smallpox variolation is a method of inoculating or immunizing an individual against the smallpox virus (Variola) through deliberate exposure to a mild form of the virus in order to create a localized infection and thus generate immunity against further infection. The procedure is most commonly administered by inserting/rubbing pulverized smallpox scabs or pustules into superficial scratches made on the skin. Afterwards the patient would develop pustules identical to those derived from naturally occurring smallpox and succumb to a mild fever. After a two week period, these symptoms would clear, indicating a successful recovery and inoculation. This method gained global notoriety during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Although the method was eventually proven ineffective and is no longer in practice today, it made way for more sophisticated methods of inoculation, which eventually led to the widespread use of vaccinations.