Inoculation (also known as variolation) is an historical method of making people immune to smallpox. Unlike a vaccine, inoculation uses infected material (for example scabs) from an infected patient. The benefit of inoculation is it gives the individual a less dangerous type of the virus. Another benefit of inoculation is the fact it has a death rate of 0.5% - 2% (as opposed to the 35% death rate of smallpox). Inoculation was eventually replaced after Edward Jenner discovered a vaccine against smallpox. 