The Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, Ohio) 1853-1861, 1858-05-13
The Woman who Lives without Eating.

The following IS Wu(ten oy Rev, ,. L, w IL
liams to the Christian Ad, ocate.
"Mrs. Hayes is not yet dead. | have seen
her several times, and after reading all that
has appeared III the Advocate in regard TO her.
venture to communicate a few thoughts upon
her case
Before she passed into this peculiar and Ofllic.
tive condition, herhcalth for some length OF time
was extremely poor. She ate but little and that
little occasioned a considerable amount OF sut-
ieting, which sometimes threw her into spasms.
For nearly year before she ceased to take re-
freshments wholly or nearly so, upon the juice
of dried raspberries, until that became source
of suffering. Then, for a time, she took occa.
souly small quantity OF cold water and it is
now nearly year since she swallowed any
| liquid to the knowledge OF any one. Indeed, |
have no doubt that tes-spooniul OF liquid put
| into her mouth would be the occasion Of her
death, unless the spasmodc action of her throat
should expel it. Any person, 10 see her ten
minutes, must b. satisfied that there is no de-
| ception in her case Hcr heal and shoulders
Que or the other are in perpetual motion. She
| is frequently thrown forward until she is nearly
doubled together, aud then her head thrown
back and her neck literally doubled, and her body
| forced back, aud the whole face, chin aud all,
entirely buried in the pillow. This is done
several tunes successfully, in less time than |
take in writing it. The last tins in the series
the face will remain nearly buried in the pillow,
| aud she does not breathe for ten or fifteen min.
utes. Once she remained flty-two mlnut IS
without beathing. When this is over, and the
spasm passes off she struggles for breath and
| her head is rolled from side to side almosI with
the velocity OF lightning tor a moment or two;
the face becomes red with the rush OF blood to
the head, aud the skin quite warm with perspi-
ration. Then the spasm subsidies into gentle
motion of the jaw and shoulder keeping time,
as one would think, with the action OF the heart
| Her skin about the lace, neck, chest and hands
is delicate and healty Us the skin on an infant
The pusatonS of her blood abou! the chest
neck head and arms, though exceedingly deli
cate, are quite regular. Her hair does not grow,
nor is it worn off her head, as one would ndtur-
ally suppose except little just upon the crown
| The action and state o the lungs are perfectly
healthy. They have been tho oughly examined
by skiIful physicians with The aid of "a stetho'
scope, and supposed to he perfect. Hci
nourishment is wholly from the atmosphere. -
The last nutrimrnt, indeed the last swallow o.
wa er she was known to take, was in the last o
June, 1857 The last time she was known to be
cuncious was last December When she comes
out of these long spasms, she seems to cry io
q moment, like an infant in distress AT sue!
times her husband thinks she may be concious
1t is most distressing to hear it. She Is no.
above the ordinary laws Of disease. She has
recently had thorough case of the mumps
precisely as Others have them. llor nails upol
/ her fingers, like her hair, do not grow at ALL