| Preface | vii |
| I. In the nature of an explanation and an apology | 3 |
| II. Being a discussion of the relationship between science and art | 15 |
| III. Leading up to the definition of bacteria and other parasites, and digressing briefly into the question of the origin of life | 34 |
| IV. On parasitism in general, and on the necessity of considering the changing nature of infectious diseases in the historical study of epidemics | 57 |
| V. Being a continuation of Chapter IV, but dealing more particularly with so-called new diseases and with some that have disappeared | 77 |
| VI. Diseases of the ancient world: a consideration of the epidemic diseases which afflicted the ancient world | 105 |
| VII. A continuation of the consideration of diseases of the ancients, with particular attention to epidemics and the fall of Rome | 128 |
| VIII. On the influence of epidemic diseases on political and military history, and on the relative unimportance of generals | 150 |
| IX. On the louse: we are now ready to consider the environment which has helped to form the character of our subject | 166 |
| X. More about the louse: the need for this chapter will be apparent to those who have entered into then spirit of this biography | 179 |
| XI. Much about rats--a little about mice | 184 |
| XII. We are at last arriving at the point at which we can approach the subject of this biography directly | 212 |
| XIII. In which we consider the birth, childhood, and adolescence of typhus | 229 |
| XIV. In which we follow the earliest epidemic exploits of our disease | 240 |
| XV. Young manhood: the period of early vigor and wild oats | 265 |
| XVI. Appraisal of a contemporary and prospects of future education and discipline | 282 |