Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-12-28

THE LENGTH OF TIME PEOPLE CAN
LIVE WITHOUT FOOD.
No Inhc Siiic Rule Prevails, md
There Are Many Influences which
ATect the Eesult--Opin!ons of an
Eminent Phyaicinn.

pathetic story was attributed recent
~ to "A 3-ycar-old child in this city. who
was represented as saying that it had
gone nearly n week without eating. At
the time Of its discovery the yuuueStcr
was reported to be on the verge of star
walton, though still alive. Whether cred
iblc or not the tale naturally raises the
question as to how long a person can live
without food.
70 the most casual observer it must bo
obvious that no in1cxible rule prevails in
such matters. Some people can 90 much
longer than others without eating. There
arc certain elements of vigor, Of reserve
vitality, that would carry one person
through an ordeal which another could
not survive. Again. the conditions of the
test may vary so widely that the same in
dividual would withstand one combina-
ton of circumstances and succumb to an.
other 1t goes without saying that an in
valid would not show the powers of en-
durance which are to be expected from
thoroughly well person, yet there are as
tonishing differences among invalids, as
indeed among those who would be pro-
nounced in good health by physician
In his well known work. "Practical
Dietetics." DIR. W. Gilman Thompson
points out that a starving man can hold
out better if he refrains from exercise
than if he engages in physical labor,
I which would consume some of his tissue
Self forgetfulness, too, tends to prOlong
life in time of famine. One who is well
nourishcd can endure much more than a
person who is already half starved.
Thus arctic explorers after having been
kept on half rations for an extended pc
Rod. would apparently not have as good
chance of survival as if they had been
well fed up to the time Of the complete
suspension of supplies. They might be
more fortunate, however, than a ship
wrecked mariner, who, in addition to the
mental depression caused by his m~for-
tune, was compelled to sustain drafts
upon bis store of physical energy through
the inccmency of the weather. More
over, a fat person may complain more
bitterly than his emacatcd comradc but
he would live longer under the SAINT A. RI
vations. In practical Dictetics' ~,
Thompson says:
"ChuSSat'S experiments with starving
animals proved that while they lost II
per cent of body weight the loss of fat
alone reached 80 per cent, being greatly
in excess of any other substance. AnSol
. ner fed starved dogs on their own blood
and succeeded in thus prolonginS thell
lives three or four days beyond the uSua
limit. and life lasted until 90 instead Of
~ per cent of their hody weight had
been lost.
When food is vcholly withheld from
human subjects, life cannot be prolons
ed beyond from six to ten days in the
majority of instances. During the win
. ter of 1861 an accident occurred in the
mines of colliery of South Wales b,
which four men and boy became i'm
!, prsoned four days without food. AZ Tho
: expiration of this period they were foun,
alive, and although very feeble they
were able to walk when released. They
I. had a supply of water. and the atmoS
. phcre in which they were confined wa
= moist. BY another colliery accident il
- Wales a number Of men were confined IL
,. a mine for six days without food, anc
although their suffcrings were extreme
they nearly all were able to walk out oil
1 being rescued.
T., The lack of food may be endured Will
=. far less torture if water is applied il
, abundance to the system. When waite
; is withheld, the body loses weight mucl
= more rapidly The tissues become dry, tn
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