The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-07-31 00:00:00

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The following is from Wednesday's Standard :

NEW YORK, Tuesday.
Dr. Tanner's total loss of weight in twenty eight days and
a half was twenty-eight pounds and a half. The loss is now
proceeding at the average rate of a pound daily.
Experiments with animals have demonstrated that the
limit of loss which can be endured with safety is one-fourth
of the original weight. In veterinary colleges, where the
question has been thoroughly tested, that amount was fixed
as the extreme limit.

Dogs die of starvation long before the limit is reached, but
with dumb animals a fatal termination is hastened by fret-
fulness and nervous exhaustion.

A fourth of Dr. Tanner's original weight is thirty-nine
pounds and three-eighths. Beginning with the thirtieth day
at this noon, and proceeding At the average rate of loss, he
will reduce his weight during the next eleven days to the
scientific limit. During the earlier period of his fast the
rate of loss was two .pounds daily when he was abstaining
from water. If the disordered condition of his stomach
should compel him to reduce the amount of water to a few
ounces daily, his average loss may run up as high as during
the first week of his fast. _

TUESDAY Afternoon,

Dr. Tanner was oppressed by the heat during the night.
He asked the watchers several times to move him nearer the
window for fresh air.

After his morning drive he seemed weak and listless, and
paid no attention to the letters which usually divert him.
He seems feebler to-day than any previous day. He has
almost entirely given up lying in the gallery, because he is
unwilling to ascend the staircase.

This afternoon his pulse is eighty-four and slightly more
regular; his temperature is ninety-eight and four-fifths;
his respiration fourteen. The dynanometer registered a
pressure of eighty kilogrammes with the right hand. His
eight is reported to be a hundred and thirty pcunds,
which is again utterly unaccountable. The probability is
that the weighing was not done accurately.
He has taken a considerable quantity of iced water, his
stomach being stronger. He is also reported to have taken
a draught of mineral water_

The doctor talks very little. He no longer walks about the
hall but remains constantly on his cot.

The Albany Argus, in reference to Dr. Tanner's
fast, cites what it says is a well-authenticated case re-
ported by the late Dr. James McNaughton, of
Albany, of a man named Rueben Kelsey, who went
without food for 53 days. This occurred in 1829. On
the 2nd July in that year Kelsey declined to eat any-
thing, assigning as a reason for fasting that when it
was the will of the Almighty that he should eat he
would be furnished with an appetite. For the first
six weeks he went regularly to the well in the morning
and washed his head and face, besides occasionally
drinking water and rinsing his mouth. His parents
were of opinion he did not drink more than a pint of
water in 24 hours. Compulsory means to make him
take food were unavailing. On one occasion he went
three days without taking even water, but on the
fourth morning he was observed to go to the well and
drink copiously and greedily. On the eleventh day of
the fast he stated to his friends he had not felt so well
and strong for two years at least. For the first forty-
two days-he walked out every day, and sometimes
spent the greater part of the day in the woods. He
walked steadily and firmly. His strength then
declined, but he shaved himself until within a week
of his death, and was able to sit up in bed to the last
day. His voice became low and feeble, but remained
distinct. He died on the 24th August, having lived
53 days without food. It is recorded that during
the first three weeks of his abstinence, he fell away
rapidly, but afterwards in a less sensible degree. His
colour was blue, and at the last blackish, and so
ghastly was his general appearance that children were
frightened at the sight of him. At the time of his
death Kelsey was twenty- seven years of age. A post
mortem examination showed death to be the result of
starvation.