Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-15
A NATION OF GLurroNs-
DIR. Tanner still OF the Opinion that
Americans Eat Too AIuch-Heart Dis
ease Cured.
Nels York AdiI and ErDrsss.
.'This is a nation Of gluttons."


ease Cured.
Hsas YORK Rag and ErDrsss.
This is a nation Of gluttons.'
The speaker was the famous DR.. Tan
ner. s'If people would eat and drink less
there would be no more use for doctors.
They could all shut up and 20 of on a
prolonged pienic.''
ssThev would probably object TO that"
"Of course. and that is just the trouble.
They live of the 'gluttony and intempeT-
ance of the people as the lawyers do of
the crimes. Their bread and butter is
concerned, you see, ana consequently
they will not utter warning word"
'sOf what practical benefit do you con-
slider your great fast has been?'
alt has been Of benefit in various WAYS.
1t has turned the attention of the people
as well as the physicians, to the efficacy
Of fasting as a cure for diseases Of all
kinds, which / contend it is. In my case.
for instance, formerly had heart disease
so bad that competent physicians who
examined me pronounced it incurable.
Since my fast l have had no trace Of it
whatever. The fast was published and
talked about all over the country, and set
people to thinking. Now many, instead
of taking nauseOus medicines for sickness,
simply 90 without food for four or five
DAYS and find themselves cured. L meet
reading of the results OF my fast and what
l said, they adopted that plan tor the cure
of sickness and now have no use for ply
sicians. Is not the theory reasonablee
Nature takes away a mans appetite
when he is sick, evidently intending that
he shall not eat, and thus give his diges-
tive organs a chance to recuperate.
THE medical, profession too, were
forced to discass the matter and many to
adopt my theories. A number of them
wrote books upon the subject, both in this
country, Canada and Europe. That emf
nent physician and surgeon, Fellow Of the
Royal Society. DIR. Richardson, of London,
England, wrote a book 'On the Benefits Of
DR.. Tanners Fast which had an extern
siYe circulation"
''But was your only object to show the
advantage Of fasting as cure for dis
ease"
G'Not at all. My main idea was to dis
prove the mateualistic theory of depen-
Genee of the mind or brain upon the body.
I held and hold that the body and brain
are dual, and that the latter can act
independently of the former. They said
that the BRAIN. in order to be active. must
| be fed upon foods rich in pbosphates; that
when the supply stopped it would cease
to act. The old school Of physicians who
| believed this claimed also that man could
| not exist more than i or 10 days without
| food DR.. VIM. A. Hammond said, when
I proposed to fast for so days, that the
man will either go crazy or die at the end
| Of 10 days. But l proved that he was
wrong; My mind was as clear at the end
/ as at the beginning Of the fast, as was
attested by all the physicians who
watched me through it,
"You say that before your fast fifteen
/ days was believed to be the limit to
! ''human existence without fOOd?"
1t was. and was so stated in Carpen-
/ ter's and other physiologies. L do not
know whether any new physiology has
| been issued since that time, but when one
| is it will probably contain a different
4 statement. OF course, the old school men
/ had a ground for their belief in the cases
of men who had died in mines and other
4 places where they were cut of from
! a supply OF food. None of them lived
/ more than fifteen days. But | claim that
4 fear caused their death rather than star
/ walton. / don't believe any man ever
/ starved to death. But one of my strong
| est motives for the fast was on account
/ of the many persons buried alive. The
4 idea of the fast grew out of wager or
4 challenge. Miss MOllie Fancher, of
/ Brooklyn, who claimed clairvOyant
/ powers, fell into a trance in 1873, and was,
/ to all appearance, dead. DR.. Spier, how
! ever, who was called, although stating
! that he believed her dead, asked the
| family to keep the body without burial
until decomposition set in. He stated
! that this could do no harm, and that there
was an unusual appearance about the
! body which he could not account for, and
wanted to study it. 1t was kept as he
! desired, and there was no change for ten
/ weeks, when, much to the surprise of all,
| Miss Fancher regained consciousness.
| The case of course attracted much atten-
tion and was published in all the papers.
| Various New York physicians were inter-
viewed, and among them DR.. William A.
! Hammond, who stated that it was impos-
! slble and that the girl was fraud. This
/ was published, and, on account of DR..
| HammOnd's standing, accepted as true,
| especially as Miss Fancher ignored an
offer of the doctor to give her 81 900 if she
would fast for thirty days, under the
! supervision Of the New York Neurological
Society. The young lady was OF a sensi-
tive disposition and shrank from public
ity, and having ali the money she needed
cared nothing for the thousand dollars.
| read of the challenge in the papers, and
having already tasted fOrty-two days.
wrote to DR.. Hammond Offering myself as
a substitute for Miss Fancher. After
much delay the proposition was accepted
and | went to New York from Minneapo-
lis. The doctor, however, deferred the
matter from time to time, on one preteXt
or another, and finally wanted me TO wait
until the meeting Of the National Neurolo
gical Society. This was in the spring OF
1880, and the society would not meet
until fall. l wrote him that l could moi
afford to wait and made my arrange
ments with the United States Medica
College. The faculty of the college ant
other physicians watched me through my
fast, Which was made forty days instead
of thirty.