This section is from the book "The Home Cyclopedia Of General Information", by Charles Morris. Also available from Amazon: Home Cyclopedia of Necessary Knowledge.
An epidemic intestinal disease, which seems native to Southern Asia, and has at various times swept with terrible destruction of life over Europe and America. It produces severe and painful cramp, often quickly followed by death. It is now known to be due to a form of bacteria {q. v.), and recent epidemics have been checked by sanitary measures.
 
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