Perhaps no observation during the great influenza epidemic of 1918-1919 was more common than the familiar comment that" the flu hit the rich and the poor alike." Apparently there was ample ground for a belief in the impartiality of the disease. Its widespread prevalence throughout the country, the frequency with which households in every social class were attacked, and the fact that prominent persons in every community were struck down, were among the outstanding, undeniable experiences in the epidemic. A certain consolation seemed to be afforded by the thought that the pestilence was democratic, even in so dreadful a sense, in its behavior. Like many conclusions based on general impressions, this observation was true only in part. Epidemic influenza undoubtedly was very prevalent among all classes of persons and its mortality toll