Daily AncestorDiarrhea
Diarrhea on old records named deaths from frequent, loose bowel movements; statisticians counted young children's cases apart from older people's.
Webster's 1913 defines diarrhea as a frequent, loose discharge from the bowels, a looseness or flux. IPUMS splits diarrhea and enteritis by age in its codes, with one code for children and one for persons over a year old.
The 1911 Census Bureau manual likewise separated diarrhoea and enteritis under 2 years from 2 years and over. For babies, compare the older names summer complaint and cholera infantum.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Eliza J. Corwith, 1, F, W, Aug., Diarrhoea, 6 ds.
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Diarrhea." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/diarrhea. Last checked 2026-10-12.