The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1880-07-13

| The Great Puzzle ofthe PhyBieians-FbiI
teen Days without Rood-In Full Posse,
sion OF His FacuItIes-what will be tn
Result?
New York Times Of Sunday.
Dr.. Il. S. Tanner, the fasting man 0
Minnesota, continues to puzzle the ply
sicians by his persistence in living withou
partaking OF food, and he Is literally set
ting at defiance the theories Of all thu
medical schools. He has not been de
tected in receiving any nourishment, anc
all the scientific tests to which tie Doctor
have subjected him have failed to give
color to any suspicious Of fraud. He is I
wonderful man in every respect, and the
experiment TO which be has voluntarily
subjected himself now promises to CON
tribute invaluable knowledge to the medi'
cal profession. Since the regular" ply
sicians began to take an interest in. the
case, every movement Of DR.. Tanner has
been infinitely recorded, and pathological
and physiological observations have been
made by his watchers hourly. lie is
watched SO closely that not movement
escapes the eye Of some one Of his attend
ants, and unless by collision with these,
there is not the slightest possibility oil
bis receiving any food.
At noon to day, this remarkable man
will have subsisted thirteen days without
partaking OF food, and eleven days with.
out drinking more than four ounces OF
water. As DR.. Gum said last evening,
this ieat has astonished the medical fra.
ternity almost as much rs the success OF
his experiment would have done. During
these thirteen days OF fasting, DR.. Tanner
has maintained himself in full possession
OF his mental faculties, and he acts and
talks as nationally to-day as he did before
the beginning Of his terrible battle with
the laws OF nature. In all recorded cases
OF absolute starvation the victim has be-
come hopelessly insane or died long before
the time which Or. Tanner has now reach
ed in his fast, and his wonderful success
so far has shaken the faith OF many physi.
clans in the theories OF vitality so long
held and converted into firm believers
many men who were skeptical when the
Doctor proposed to fast for forty days.
It is only in the face that DR.. Tanner
shows any evidence OF the terrible ordeal
OF starvation which he is undergoing. His
face, which before he began his last was
full and round, is now. haggard and
enaciated. His eyes seem to sink deeper
into their sockets with every day, and to
close observers, the change from day to
day is very apparent. On Friday the doc.
tors face was pallid,' and he looked like
ghost OF his former self. Yesterday
rosette hue overspreal his features, and
his face bore the appearance OF perfect
health. This change Is accounted for by
the doctors on different theories, some,
like Prof. Wark, holding that the return
OF color to the face is favorable symptom,
and indicates that the crisis has passed,
and others, like DR.. Maurice N. Miller,
'egarding the rosette hue as due to the
setting in OF fever, and as Indicating the
beginning OF the end.
DR.. Griswold gave the reporters singh
lar theory of his own, which Prof. Work
says has no scientific basis. DR.. Grlswold
saws that the change in DR.. Tanners face,
from extreme paleness TO a roseate hue. Is
due to the fact that all the white, or water.
laden, blood corpusCles have passed from
the body, and all that remains OF the
blood ia that part OF it made up OF red
corpuscIes. Blood, he thinks, is now the
sole sustenanGe OF the faster, and his vital
organs are drawing upon it more and more
largely day by day. As no new blood can
be manufactured without the agency OF
food, the supply OF life from this source is
diminishing gradually, and the only ques.
ton remaining to be solved isI how longth
supply will last. II the supply Is suih'
Gent to sustain life for forty days DR.. Tau.
ner's experiment will succeed, to the be.
wilderment OF the medical men who sur
round him. II it is not, the moment the
blood is exhausted the iaster's frame will
become dry shell, and must collapse
from sheer exhaustion.
While this important change either for
better or worse, is noticeable in the color
Of DR.. Tanners face, the strange glitter oil
his sunkeu eyes remain the same. It is
not brightness WHICH indicates health,
and it is not the glare Of insanity, for the
mans faculties are, apparently, unimpar-
ed. 1t is peculiar glitter, which makes
one shudder to look at, and, in spite OF the
Doctors protestations that he suffers
nothing now from the pangs OF hunger,
and that his eyes are simply affected by
sleeplessness, no observer can help feeling
that the eyes are an unerring index OF ter
rible mental, il not OF physical, agony.
DR.. Tanner says that the crisis in his long
fast has passed, and success now depends
only on the power OF his will TO hold in
check the consumption OF his body. He
insists that the craving OF his stomach is
completely subjected, and that he has no
longer a desire to eat or drink. He claims
that he would have reached this condition
earlier in his struggle but for the infer
tunate disturbance created by DR.. Bradley,
which not only excited him terribly, but
forced him to take water for the first time,
and thus virtually lost to him much OF the
ground which he had gained.
For the last three days he has INDUCED
in very little exercise, and in this respect
has submitted himself obediently to his
watchers, although protesting at times
against their strict orders. He grows
weaker daily, bnt will not admit that ne
il losing much strength, and takes an al
most childish delight when allowed to
walk, in stepping off as briskly as he can:
to show that ''the old man Is alive We"
Thesa little spurts are injurious to him,
for they involve the expenditure oil force
which be needs to hold in reserve, but the
most careful attendance is incapable Of
preventing them when he is on his feet.
BE is fond OF music, and Miss Henrietta
Maursr has played the piano for him al
most every day for a week. 1t gives him
something to think about besides his
stomach, and in this way is helpful to him.
He said yesterday that he wished he
could hear some Of Moody and Sankey's
HYMNS sung by Sabbath school children,
and an effort will be made to crafty this
desire during the present week.
The opinions OF the doctors regarding
The nndinu Of this remarkable experiment,