The Sentinel. [volume] (Trenton, N.J.) 1880-1882, 1882-04-08
Feass of Human Ostriches
The Extraordinary Digestion Of Some men
and Women.


Prestwich asylum, in England, a mad
man in whose body were found 1,4oI
obiects-to wit, 20 buckles, IA pieces OF
glass, 10 pebbles, 3 knetted strings, a
piece of leather, l sh-hook, pin, =
copper buttons, and 1,7s2 nails and
tacks. His madness was of q common
sort after all. At the autopsy Of con-
Wet in the Brest galleys So objects were
found in the stomach, including sew
eral knive. and pieces of iron hoop
four inches long. In March, 1859, q
sailor named John Cummings died In
Guys hospital, London, whose expe-
riences completely eclipse the per-
formances of the boy described by
Msssrs. Sawyer and Allen in Pick
wickn as addicted to wooden beads.
In 1899 he had seen French juggler
swallowing" knives by the dozen,
and in his eredulity, believing. that
the juggler actually conveyed them
into his stomach, he undertook to
rival him and swallowed four clasp
knives. Luckily these did not xii
him, and he was satisfied tn rest on
his laurel until March, 1895, when at
Boston he was one day tempted, While
drinking, to boast of and repeat his
performance. In the course of that
evening he swallowed six knives, and
when next morning crowds of visitors
came to see him was induced to swal-
low eight more. He paid dearly for
his frolic for he was seized with
vomiting and pain in the stomach,
and though by heroic measures he
was relieved that organ was irretriev-
ably ruined. But all his suffering did
not suffice to cure him of his folly, for
at Spithea d. in December, 1905, being
somewhat tipsy, he resumed his boast
fulness of being able to swallow knives,
and to amuse the ships company
swallowed nine clasp knives. some of
them of large size. Again he became
i'll, and \ as in the hands of the ships
surgeon for several months, during
which portions Of knives were dis
charged. At length he was admitted
as patient at Guys hospital, and in
March, 1919, he died in a state Of ex-
IRENE emaciation.
A milder form of his disease is a
fondness for pins and needles. DR..
Stevenson, Of Detroit, reported in 1877
the case of a woman of seventy five,
whom he had relieved of a pin swaI-
lowed forty-two years before while
picking her teeth. SiIoy has recorded
the case of woman who made pins
and needles her daily diet, and from
whose body 1900 of these articles were
taken after her death. Another case.
almost as striking, said The London
Lancet about year ago, has been re
corded by DR.. Gillette (1874), that of a
girl in whom, from time to time,
needles were found beneath the ekin,
which they perforated and We're re-
moved by the fingers of the forceps.
Concerning the way in which they got
into her system no information could
be extracted from her. She was care
fully watched by Dr.. Lepaulmier, and
IN the course of eighteen months no
less than $50 needles were extracted
all being about the same size. The
largest number which escaped in a
single day was 81. A curious phenom-
enon preceded the escape of each
needle. For some hours The pain was
severe, and there was considerable
fever. She then felt a sharp pain.
like tightening in the tissues, and on
looking at the place at which this
pain had been felt the head oftbe
needle was generally found projecting.
The needles invariably came out head
foremost. No bleeding was occasion.
ed and not the least trace of infiam.
nation followed. That little weight
is to be attached to the place at which
the needles escape as a proof of their
mode of introduction is evident from a
case recorded by DR.. Villars of a girl
who swallowed large number of pins
and needles, and two years afterward
during period of nine months 90,
passed out of the hand, arm. axill.
side of throat, abdomen, and thigh Ali
on the left side. The pins, curiouslv
escape more readily and with Iesa
pain than the needles. MANY vesrs
ago case was recorded by DR.. Otto
OF Copenhagen, in which 495 needles
passed through the skin of a hvsteri.
cal girl, who had probably swallowed
them during hysterical paroxysm
and these all emerged in regions below
the level of the diaphragm and were
collected in groups, which gave rise to
lnf1ammatory swelling of some size
One of these contained 100 needles
In 1878 DR.. Bigger described before
the Society of Surgery Of Dublin
case In which more than 800 + eedlas
were removed from the body of q
woman who died in consequence ~