From outbreaks of diarrhea that claimed countless infants to the dreaded cholera that destroyed the flesh, the lives of Victorian children were endangered with each new epidemic.

In the nineteenth century more young people succumbed to consumption, or tuberculosis, than all other diseases. A disease that destroyed the lungs, consumption was transmitted by sprays from the respiratory tracts of infected people or from infected cows. Affecting those between ages five and thirty, it often occurred in urban areas after extended contact with an infected person. Symptoms included fever, weight loss, night sweats, and fatigue. Its hallmarks were a persistent cough, chest pain, and, later, coughing up blood. Those in the early stages could be cured with rest, fresh air, and sunshine. Consumption was originally blamed on short sleeves and low-necked clothing.

Another major killer was whooping cough, the most deadly of the infectious diseases. An acute disease that usually affected children, it involved an inflamed respiratory tract and prolonged coughing spasms that end in violent gasping as the victims attempt to catch their breath--hence the whoop.

One of the most hideous diseases was cholera. Usually fatal, cholera resulted in violent diarrhea and vomiting with muscular cramps, chills, pain, fever, and circulatory failure ending in collapse. Striking infants and young children as well as adults, the disease worsened in sultry weather. Victims often died within hours from diarrhea and dehydration. The body would swell and decay so rapidly after death that burial was often immediate. Cholera outbreaks affected America in 1832, 1849, 1866, and 1873, with many smaller outbreaks throughout the century. Asiatic cholera in Boston in 1854 left many dead in a very short period.

Typhoid fever was an acute infectious disease acquired by drinking infected milk or water. Symptoms included high lingering fever and intestinal discomfort, chills, diarrhea, and prostration. At the end of the first week rosy spots appeared on the chest and abdomen. During the Spanish-American War in 1898 one-fifth of American troops developed typhoid fever.

Deadly and highly infectious, diphtheria affected children especially, striking the upper respiratory system. It was spread through saliva and through touch, with bacilli entering the body by the mouth and nose. Bacteria attacked the walls of the nose and throat five days after exposure. Those who survived might be temporarily paralyzed in the eyes, legs, or one side of the body.

Acute and contagious, scarlet fever also attacked through the nose or mouth. It was transmitted by direct contact, through utensils used by an infected person, or by infected milk. Common in children aged two through ten, it occurred in winter or late spring mostly to fair- skinned people. Symptoms included headache, sore throat, and vomiting, followed by a tongue rash and high fever. It subsided after five days, after which the skin peeled.

The hallmark of smallpox was a skin eruption that left permanent scarring. Caused by a virus, smallpox left its victims with severe chills, pain in the back and limbs, intense headache, vomiting, and fever. On the third day a rash began on the face.

Measles was deadly in the nineteenth century. Also caused by a virus, it was characterized by small red spots on the skin, an aversion to light, nasal discharge, coughing, and a high fever.

Yellow fever, also called the black vomit or the miasmas, was spread by mosquitoes. It destroyed the liver and kidneys, its telltale mark being jaundiced skin. An outbreak hit Philadelphia in 1793 and New Orleans in 1853. When 5,000 died in Memphis in 1878, more than half its residents left the city.

For most of these diseases, no cause was discovered or vaccine developed until the 1880s at the earliest. Taking a closer look at your ancestors might help you uncover unexpected causes of death.