Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1858-05-19
The Womon who lives without Eating

We have, says the New York Post, pub
lisbed several letters respecting this extrf
ordinary case Of suffering; they are impor
tlnt to scientific men, and painfully inter-
esting to all The following is written by
Rev. $. 7. Williams to the Christian id,o
cate
"Mrs Haye. is not vet dead have
seen her several times, and after reading all
that has appeared in the Adoocate in regard
to her, venture to communicate few
thoughts upon her case. Before she passed
into this peculiar and affective condition,
her health was for some length of time ex-
tremely poor, She ate bat little, and that
little occasioned considerable amount of
suffering Sometimes it threw her into
spasms. For nearly year before she
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 time, she took oc-
casionally Il small quantity of cold water;
and it is now nearly year since she swal-
lowed any liquid TO the knowledge Of any
one. Indeed l have 10 doubt ihat tea
spoonful of liquid pu, into her mouth would
be the occasion OF her death, unless the
/ spasrnodic action of her throat should cX-
pei it. Any person to see her ten minutes
must be satisfied that there is no deception
in her case Her head and shoulders, one or
| the other, are in perpetual motion. She Is
| frsdently throw II forward until she is nearly
doubled together. and then the head thrown
back, and her neck literally doub ed, and
the body forced back, and the whole face,
chin, and all, entirely buried in the pillow
This is done several times successfully III
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 MINUTES. Once
she remained 81 minutes without breathing.
When this is over, and he.spasm passes off,
she struggles for breath, and her head is
rolled from side to side almost with the We
locitv of lightning for a moment or two;
the face becomes red with the rush of blood
to the head. and the skin quite moist wild
perspiration. Then the spasm SUBSIDIES in
to gentle motion Of the Jaw ana shoulder
keeping time as ore would think. with tn.
action of the heart Her skin about til,
face, neck, ches. and hands, is delicate am
healthy as the skin Of an infant.
The pulsation Of her blood about the
chest, neck, head ami arms, though exceed
incly delicate, are quite regular. Her han
does not grow, nor is it worn off her head
as one would naturally suppose, except ;
little just upon the crown. The action 0
the liver is entirely suspended of course
The action and state of the lungs are per
fectly healthy They have been thorough,
examined by skillful physicians with tn
aid of a stethoscope, and are supposed t
be perfect Her rourishment j. who'll
from the atmosphere The last nutriment
. indeed, the last swallow of water She wa
known to take, was in the last of June, 1871
The last time she was known 10 be con
scious was last December. When she come
out of these long spasms she seems to or,
for a moment, like an infant in distress
At such times her husband thinks she ma,
be conscious. 1t is most distressing to hea
it. She is not above the ordinary laws {
,, disease She has recently had Thorough
case of the mumps, precisely as Others hay
them. Her nails upon her fingers, like he
hair, do not grow at all