While a statistical study of typhoid fever is not in strict accordance with the caption of this article, there is a valuable amount of information as to the etiology of the disease furnished by the vital statistics of the Twelfth Census Reports and, for a practical observation, a few facts may be referred to without impropriety.
The geographical distribution of typhoid fever shows a greater prevalence in the southern states, including the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, the death rate being 76.1 per 1,000 deaths. Next highest mortality is 69.5 for Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Indian Territory and Texas. Of the latter 80.6 is rural and 38.7 is cities. The general rate for rural is 48 and cities 19, which suggests a greater source of infection in the rural districts. Nearly every source of the infection can be excluded except the drinking water, which is contaminated by the soil. My