The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-13
MACSWINEY IS
FED, NEW YORK
DOCTORS AGREE
Absolutely impossible for
Him to Have Lived for
Sixty Days.
CITE TANNER CASE
Slender Build of Mayor
Would More Quickly
End Long Fast.
MENTAL FORCE AN AID
But Experts Assert That Some
Nourishment Is Being
Taken.
MENTAL FORCE AN AID

MacSwiney is being fed. That Is
the practically unanimous opinion of a
representative group Of New York
physicians whose standing in their
profession is unquestioned. They were
asked by a HERALD reporter whether
they believed it possible for man to
live sixty days without food. as
Terence MacSwiney, the Lord Mayor
of Cork, on hunger strike in Brixton
Prison. London, is reported to have
done. Yesterday was the sixtieth day
of MacSwiney's reported fast. The
answer Of the physicians was that he
must have had nourishment OF some
kind. in addition to water.
In authentic medical record, the
longest fast known to these physicians
was that of DR.. Tanner. a generation
back He went forty-one days without
food of any kind. Not one of the ply
sicians questioned could recall a case
which paralleled that of Lord Mayor
MacSwiney.
The doctors point out that man can
lose only a certain percentage OF his
original weight IN the process of star
walton, and that when that point has
been passed he must die. This per-
centage they place in the neighborhood
of half his normal weight. The man
who is reduced TO forty per cent of his
g. & mi
tinue to live, they say. A stout man
can outfast n thin one. because the
fatty tissues are consumed first. Pic
lures of MacSwiney show him to have
been of slender build.
Mental Force an Aid.
DR.. John D. Quackenbos. widely
known physician and alienist said: II
cannot believe that MacSwiney has
pa ssed his sixtieth day without food. /
don't know what they're doing with
him, but / do know that man cant
live sixty days without nourishment.
The prison physician IS reported as say
ing that MacSwiney could live another
month That is utter nonsense. unless
the man Is being fed in some way. If 1t
is true however. as l saw In one story
to-day, that he has been given grape
juice. his fast is within the limits of
possibility. Grape Juice Is nourishinG,
and that together with water. would
enable him to live n considerable length
of time.
Another thing that must be taken
into consideration In MacSwiney's case
Is the subconscious force Of his deter
mination to force his point upon Eng
land. That mental force is helping him,
hut even so. they must be feeding him
something"
DR.. Graeme VI. Hammond: II think
that MacSwiney must have been fed.
Neither he nor any other man could live
sixty days without nourishment. ! re-
call the case of DR.. Tanner well, but
have never known OF longer fast than
his"
DIR Louis Lesser: 'I do not think II
at all likely that MacSwiney has tasted
sixty days. I'm very much inclined TO
think that they have been feeding him
ALI along In some way. The Indian
fakirs go In pretty heavily for fasting
and have practised IL for great many
wears. They manage to go from forty to
ffty DAYS without food. but they have
reduced the practice to science. They
succeed In remaining absolutely motion
less. But do not believe that an Occi'
dental could attain to anything like
similar proficiency"
water Might Keep Life.
Or. Herman c. Frauenthal: "1 doubt
MacSwiney's fast very much Indeed II
he is supposed to have had neither food
nor water. II ne has had water all
along. Il is conceivable that he might 20
for sixty days without food. II he were
n fat man to begin with. But that's too
long for a man of slender or medium
build.
"A man dies when he loses certain
percentage OF his original weight. He
cannot stand a loss OF more than bv
per cent. II the loss takes place within
a comparatively short time; over
longer period he may lose as much as
60 per cent. but no more"
Dr. L. L. Danforth--"I don't think
Macswiney's fast IL within the limits or
possibility. 1 can recall no similar case
In medical history. He must be fed IN
some way. That could very easily be
done IN capsule form. or by liquid
nourishment of some kind"
DIR. Clarence c. Rice-"I know Of no
case to he compared with this one. |
can't believe that MacSwiney isn't
getting something In the way OF food.
Either bouillon, capsules or something
Of that nature"
Or. Ralph Folsom---"Not having ever
handled such case cannot speak
from experience. However from point
of medical knowledge. ] would say Il IL
Impossible for a man TO live so long
without some sustenance. cannot
understand why the method Of feeding
by means of a tube has not been re-
sorted to-"
DR.. Menas S. Gregory-'T never be
fore heard OF such case. nor have I
ever read OF similar one In medical
literature. II seems very strange and
beyond understanding"