Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1871-05-11
y MODERN MIRACLE.
The Bleeding Girl Of H.inault.


ed the marvellous exploits of a fasting
girl in Wales. Still later. national
pride was gratitied by the advent of a
wondrous prophecies in Louisville. The
young lady whose fame now resounds
from Hainault, however, is more as
founding person than either. In fact,
no more inexplicable case than this of
Louise Lateau's has probably ever been
known. Her peculiar accomplishment
is not to fast, or to prophesy, but to
bleed. This she does in the most pro
fuss and unprovoked manner, and every
effort To find out how she does it has
hitherto failed The investigation has
not been confined to the ignorant or
superstitious. 1t is asserted that the
ablest Flemish physicians have been
batfied in their attempts to discover
the cause of the young woman's san
culinary proceedings; and certainly the
account of DR.. Day, just published in
Macmillan Magazine, may we'll staggcr
the most incredulous
The published history of Louise La
teau offers the customary attestations
of the purity and simplicity of her
character. 1t is characteristic of these
cases that public confidence is always
bespoken, and doubt disarmed by
elaborate assurances of the rectitude
and guilelessRess OF the new wonder
Hence We are not surprised at being
told that for the first seventeen years
OF her life Louise was an uncommonly
good little girl, and no one ever knew
her to tib, pilfer, or even to hirt. In
1868, she having for a short time been
out to service, she fell into i'll health
For month she seemed on the verge
of the grave. AT this juncture began
her extraordinary performances. One
Friday morning slender rivlllet of
blood began to trickle from her left
side After while it ceased, but on
the next Friday blood oozed from the
upper surface Of her feet. On the third
Friday it came simultaneously from
side, feet, and hands. A few months
after blood came also from her head;
and now, by the latest accounts, "she
presents every Friday and on Fridays
only--an awful sort Of image of the
bleeding form of Christ on the Gross. :"
Cateleptic symptoms accompany this
exhibition. The young woman goes at
eight o'clock in the morning into a
species oftrance. In this she says she
beholds in vision the scene of the pas
sion. Tears roll down her cheeks, but
now and then she smiles in ecstscy.
She is insensible to all outward sights
or sounds, and remains unmoved by
even very strong electric shocks I'M
til in the day she remains in coma,
blood appearing constantly as describ
ed. She then leaps up with bound,
falls into a cold sweat, has a rattle in
her throat, and an imperceptible pulse,
and seem on the point of death. New
ertheless, she RECEIVERS in about fifteen
minutes, and then remains in her usual
state until the following Friday.
When news began to spread of this
strange affair, crowds of people natu-
rally began to flock to witness it. The
Roman Catholic clergy of the neigh
borhood, at once, we are assured, called
in able physicians. One of these, DR..
Iefebore, has given great attention
the case, and has printed monograph
of it. This gentleman has been for
two years at the head at the medical
staff of two lunatic asylums, and is
likewise Professor in Louvain Univer-
sity. His report is examined at length
by DIR. Day, and the latter has received
q note from DR.. Lefebore, stating that,
as lately as the middle of January, the
condition of Louisa Lateau remained
unchanged. His experiments have been
numerous and very interesting. He
scrutinized carefully the places
from which the blood exuded with a
microscope, aud found that on those
places the epidermis - very thin, SO
that the true skin can be seen through
it. When the bleeding is going to be-
gin, little bladder appears on the
spots, filled with transparent reddish
fluid A rent presently takes place in
the cuticle, the serous fluid escapes,
and the blood begins to ooze from the
surface of the exposed popiite within.
The quantity of blood often amounts TO
nearly a quart. Pending it's flow, the
doctor repeatedly tickled Louise's nose
with q feather, made her smell am
monia, pricked her with needle, and
passed a strong electromagnetic cur
rent along her arm. All this the girl
invariably bore without the least sign
OF uneasiness or even feeling. DR..
Lefebore carefully wrapped her hands
in strong, well-stitched gloves, drew
them tightly at the wrists, sealed the
strings, and then watched the result
This was, SIMPLY, that the gloves, when
taken off, were filed with blood. In
brief, this physician and others feel
totally unable, however awkward may
be any different assumption, to declare
that the girl is consciously an impostor.
What, then, is the alternativef The
doctors of the Roman Church, of
course, have no difficulty in answering