14 THE! AMERICAN MONTHLY [Jan,, 



When the dates of the outbreak above given are con- 

 sidered it will be seen that they have themselves almost 

 conclusively pointed to one single source of infection 

 that had occurred in these three fraternities at a date 

 something like two weeks earlier than October 20th. 

 The period of incubation of typhoid fever is known to be 

 from eight days to twenty-eight days, and all of the 

 cases came in such close connection with each other as to 

 indicate almost beyond question that they were due to 

 one single source of infection that occurred within two 

 weeks prior to October 20th. Upon the 12th of October 

 all of the fraternities in college held their annual initia- 

 tion, followed by an initiation supper, and suspicion was 

 soon thrown upon these suppers. The date of the sup- 

 pers was exactly such as would be needed to explain the 

 outbreak and as soon as it appeared that new cases di- 

 minished after November 1st, these suppers became the 

 most probable fource of infection. When the initiation 

 suppers were taken into consideration one of the three 

 exceptions, above mentioned, disappeared, because one 

 of the men who did not belong to the college fraternity, 

 had attended one of the three initiation suppers. An 

 examination of the bills of fare at the suppers in ques- 

 tion was therefore instituted. It was found that nearly 

 every article of food must be excluded on the same 

 grounds as the articles of food at their ordinary table. 

 Their milk, their water, their ice, their ice cream, their 

 fruits, their celery, and in fact, nearly all other articles 

 of diet, they either did not obtain from the same source, 

 or obtained them from a source which supplied every 

 other one of the seven college fraternities as well as the 

 people in town. There was found, indeed, to be but 

 three points of common union between the three frater- 

 nities. One was the celery used in the salad, a second, 

 a small amount of fruit, and the third the oysters which 

 were eaten. The celery and fruit, however, were from 



