Sharp County record., 1880-08-19
How Long Can Life be Sustained Wit
out Food!

It has been observed that childr0
and old people endure deprivation #
food by no means as we'll as adult.
This fact was noted by M. Savigny n
the case of the wreck of the frigae
Medusa. After the wreck one hundrd
and fifty persons of all ages were e.
posed on a raft for thirteen days with
hardly any food. Out of this numbr
only fifteen survived, among them y.
Savigny and the children. Young pe-
sons and the aged were the first to su-
cumb This wreck occurred in 1Sb.
M. Savigny gave, in an inaugural thess,
a very instructive and accurate account
of the occurrence, which is very genr-
ally quoted in works on physiology.
DR.. Sovick relates the case OF eight
men who were shut up in a coal mne
for five days and sixteen hours with hut
half-pound of bread, bit of cheese
and two glasses of wine, all of whm
survived, but were in very weak and
dilapidated state when rescued.
Berard quotes the example of a cn-
vict who died of starvation after si&y-
three days, his only nutriment durng
this time having been water.
DR.. B. NJ. Richardson, in the SoSaI
Science ReUieW and Journal Of Sciences,
London, has the following: We our
selves know an instance in which nan
with disordered mind refused all tod
for thirty days, and after short return
to food again refused food for thity-
six days. But in this instance, on the
second occasion, the sufferer died al
though he had recommended to swallow
light nourishment.
Austin Flint, Jr., NJ D., in his work
on Alimentation, Digestion and Alb
sorption,i published by Dt Appleton "
Co., in 1870, says in the chapter de-
voted to inanition: "Berard also qDtes
from various authorities instances of
deprivation of food for periods var!ing
from four months to sixteen years. All
of these subjects were females, and the
histories of such cases, reports of which
are by no means uncommon, beong
properly to psychology, as they are un-
doubted examples of that morbid dssire
to excite sympathy and interest which
is sometimes observed and which bads
to the most adroit and persevering effort
at deception"
In foot-note DR.. Flint says: from
time immemorial the credulous have
periodically been startled with reports
of wonderful cases in which peisons
generally females) have lived for an
incredible time without food. A curious
specimen of these histories is the case
of girl, ten years of age, who lived
without food and drink and in whom
development, etc., seemed to be normal.
This was testified to by a learned Ihysi-
clan in 1912"
The smallest quantity of food upon
which life is known to have been sup
ported with vigor during prolonged
period, is that on which Conaro states
himself to have subsisted. This was no
more than twelve ounces day, chiefly
of vegetable matter, for period o. fifty
eight years. There is only one instance
on record in which his plan was fol-
lowed.
Fodere mentions that some workmen
were extricated alive after fourteen
days confinement in cold, damp cav
ern in which they had been buried IN
der a ruin. .
There is the well-known case of a
hog which was buried in its sty for 100
days under thirty feet of the chalk OF
Dover Cliff and was dug out alive at
the end of that time, reduced in weight
from 100 to forty pounds.
In case recorded by DR.. william, OF.
a young gentleman who starved him
self under the influence of religious de-
lusion, life was prolonged for sixty
days, during the whole of which time
no other nourishment was taken than
a little orange juice.
DR.. Carpenter, in his Physiology, re-
lateS similar case, that came under
his own notice, that of young French
lady who was fifteen days without any
kind of food, when at last she was COM
PEELED to take nouriShment. During
this time she took great deal of eXer-
else and her strength seemed to suffer
but little.
DR.. Carpenter cites another instance
of prolonged abstinence from food that
came under his own observation. This
time it was a young lady who had Suf-
fered severely from the tetanic form of
hysteria and who was unable to take
aad-for three weeks; the slightest at
tempt to introduce morSel OF SOLID
matter into the stomach occaSioned
very severe vomiting and retching and
the only nOuriShment that could be ad-
ministered was a cup OF tea once or
twice day-on many days this, even,
being refused. Yet the strength of the
patient rather increased than diminish
ed during this period; her muscles be-
came tirmer, and her voice more pow
erful.
In the western part of Connecticut
a large worm has been discovered with
in the husk of ears of green corn,
eating its way the whole length OF