Hi all- I came across an article in the Wall St Journal with a list of archaic diseases found mentioned in classic literature. I thought it might help those of you who find these terms on ancestor's death certificates or in family histories: Ague= malarial fever Brain fever = meningitis Catarrh= inflammation that leads to mucous discharge from nose or throat Consumption=tuberculosis Grippe = influenza Humid tetter = eczema Jail fever or ship fever = typhus Low Spirits = depression Lues venereal = syphillis Morphew = scurvy blisters, caused by insufficient levels of vitamin C Podagra= gout Stopping = constipation Variola = smallpox. Joanne Steckling