The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1880-09-02
A TiETY-EIaET DAYS FAST.
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A French Prisoner Who Beats Or.
Tanner-Ths Phenomena
Of Starvation.

Tanner-The Phenomena
Of Starvation.
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Ann Moore, the famous fasting
woman of Tutbury, pretended to
have lived for eight years entirely
without food. A watch committee
was appointed, which detected the
fraud IN a very ingenious manner.
The bed and the bedding, with the
woman 10 it, were placed on q deli
cate weighing machine, which re-
suited IN the inevitable exposure.
At the expiration of the ninth day
of this strict watching, being
warned that she was sinking, she
acknowledged her imposture, and
admitted-which is an important
fact-that, SO long as the watch up
on her was but imperfect her
daughter had contrived, when wash
ING her face To feed her every
| morning by using towels ntaUU
very wet with gravy, milk, and 9TH
err nourishIng fluid, and had also
while kissing her contrived to con.
vey small portions of solid food
from mouth to mouth. Guillaume
Granet, prisoner at Toulouse, re-
sorted to starvation to avoid pun
ishment. For the first seven days
the symptoms were not very re-
markable. After this period he
was compelled to drink water to re-
lieve his raging thirst, and after
lingering on in terrible agony he
died in commissions ON the fifty
eighth day. The case IL reported
by Van Swieten. There is no
doubt as to its truth, and it shows
that up to the present. at any rate,
DR.. Tanner has at the most only.
done what other have done before
him. Viterbi, a Corsican, con-
demned TO death for the assassina-
ton of Frediani, resolved to starve
himself to death. He died on the
twenty first day. He, too, occa-
sionally moistened his mouth with
water. The medical details OF his
case, which arc very horrible, will
be found in Paris Medical Juris-
prudence. OF actual starvation,
the most remarkable example is
perhaps that report by ID. Sloane,
of AYR. A man, some 65 years of
age, a spare habit of body, and un-
commonly vigorous for his time of
life, was accidentally incarcerated
in a coal-mine for twenty-three
days, during the first few of which
he had access to water strongly nm
pregnated with iron. He then be-
came unable to move, and had un-
fortunately fallen some distance
from the water. In this instance
DIR. Sloane thinks that an impure
atmosphere, by lowering the vital
powers, might tend to slightly pro-
long life under circumstance of
privation. The unhappy man died
on the third day after his removal.
In 1866, Capt Casey, of the James
Lowden, passed twenty-eight days
in an open boat without food or
| water. He contrived, however, to
! drink as much rain as he could
collect, and Il is possible, of course,
THAT he may have chewed frag
ments of his clothes. Thus, then,
so far as ascertained cases go, life
has actually, on one occasion, been
sustained for fifty eight days with
out food, but not without water.
Referring to cases which occur
red during the Irish famine in lS47,
DIR. Donovan says: ''They de-
scibed the pain of hunger at first
very acute, but said that after TWEEN
ty-four hours had been passed
without food the pain subsidized and
was succeeded by feeling of weak
ness and sinking, experienced prin
cipally in the epigastric region, &C
companied with Unsuitable thirst, a
strong desire for cold water, and a
distressing feeling Of GOODNESS over
the entire surface of the body. In
a short time the face and limbs be
came horribly emaciated; the eyes
acquired most peculiar stare; the
skin exhaled q peculiar and often
sive fetor, and was covered with n
brownish, filthy-looking coating, al
most as indeliable as varnish. This
he was at first inclined to regard as
incrusted filth, but further expert
ence convinced him that it was n
secretion poured out from the ex
halants on the surface of the body.
The sufferer tottered in walking
like a drunken man; his voice be
came weak, like that OF person
in cholera; he whined like a child,
and burst into tears on the slight
est occasion. In respect to the
mental faculties, their prostrAtion
kept pace with the general wreck Of
bodily power; in many there was n
state of imbecility; in some almost
complete idotism; but in no in
stance was there delirium or mania,
which is otter descibed as. conse
quence of protracted abstine &c
among ship-wrecked mariners.
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