Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1858-05-12
LIVING WITHOUT EATING.

We have published several letters re-
speetiDg this extraordinary case Of suffering
they are important 10 scientific men, and
painfully interesting to oil. The following
is written BY Rev. S. P. Williams 10 the
Christian Adyoelte:
"Ms. Hayes is not yet dead. have
seen her several times, And after reading
all that has appeared iD the Advocate 10
regard 10 her venture 10 communicate
few thoughts upon her case. Before she
passed into this peculiar and affective con-
dition, ber health was for some length Of
time extremely poor. She ate but little,
and that little occasioned a considerable
amount Of suffering. Sometimes il threw
her into spasms.-For nearly year before
sbe ceased to take refreshments altogether,
she lived wholly, or nearly so, upon the
juice Of dried raspberries,until that became
source Of suffering. Then, for a time,
she took occasionally a small! quantity Of
cold water; and it is now nearly year
since she swallowed any liquid to the knowl.
ege of any one. Indeed l have no doubt
that teaspOOnful Of liquid put into her
mouth would be the occasion Of her death,
unless the spasmodic action Of her throat
should expel it, Any person to see her
ten minutes must be satisfied there is no
deception in Der case. Her head and
shoulders, one or the other, are in perpet-
ual motion. She is frequently thrown for
ward until she is nearly doubled together,
aud then the head thrown back, aud her
neck literally doubled, and the body forced
back, and the whole face, chin and all, en-.
tirely buried in the pillow. This is done
several times successivelp in less time than
| take In writing it.
The last time in the series the face will
remain nearly buried in the pillow, and
she does not breathe for ten or fifteen min
utes. Once she remained sixty.two min
utes without breathing. When this is over
and the spasm passes off she struggles for
breath, and her head is rolled from side to
side almost with the velocity Of tightening
for a moment or two; the face becomes red
with the rush Of blood to the head and the
skin quite moist with perspiration. Then
the spasm subsidies into a gentle motion Of
the jaw and shoulder, keeping time, as one
would think, with the action Of the heart.
Her skin about the face, neck, chest and
hands is delicate aud healthy as the skin
of an infant. The pulsations Of her blood
about the chest neck, head and arms, though
exceedingly delicate, are quite regular
Her hair does not grow, nor is It worn Oft
the head, as one would naturally suppose,
except little just upon the crown. The
action Of the liver is entirely suspended of
course. The action and state Of the lungs
are perfectly healthy. They have been
thoroughly examined by skilful physicians,
with the aid of a stethoscope, and are sup
posed to be perfect. Her uourishment is
wholly from the atmosphere. The last
nutriment, indeed the last swallow Of wa
ter she was known to take, was in the last
of June, 1857. The last time she was
known to be conscious was last December.
When she comes out of these long spasms
she seems to cry for a moment, like au
infant in distress-At such times her hus-
band thinks she may be conscious. 1t is
most distressing to hear it. She is not
obove the ordinary laws Of disease. She
has recently had thorough case of the
mumps, precisely as Others have them
Her nails upon her fingers, like her hair,
do not grow at all.