Year: 1879

THE SINGULAR ACCIDENT WHICH COMPELLED A


MAN TO sTARvE TO DEAru-PAINFUL con-


SEQUENCES OF SWALLOWING HIS FALSE


TEErH-sEvEN WEEKS WITHOUT FOOD.


PHILADELPHIA Feb. 25, 1879


According to the report of Il local paper a man
died here on the 4th inst. under very singular
cumstances His name Levi Wagonseller. He
was thirty-eight years Of age and was employed in
cotton factory at Fairmount. One evening in De-
cember he entered Chestnut street restaurant
to get supper. When about half through the
meal he suddenly felt something sharp and
pointed going down his throat causing him intense
pain. For a moment he thought he had swallowed
a large and jagged piece of bone, but putting his
hand to his mouth instinctvely OH feeling the pain
he found that his false teeth missing. and he
knew that it must have been they which had gone
down his throat. The teeth three
in number. They were fastened to silver
plate, and had been in his mouth for
many years. Recently the hooks holding them in
place had worn loose, and the artificial teeth had
annoyed him by falling from his mouth several
times. Plate and all had gone down his throat, aud
he could feel them lodged against his breast
Alarmed and suffering intensely, Wasonseller went
to his home which was in suburb of the city
(Heston ve) in PaXson street between Fifty first and
Fifty second He could eat solid food. and for
days took nothing into his stomach. On the third
day he managed to force down little bread and
milk. On this day the sufferer went to the Univer
sity Hospital to DR.. Agnew, who, after examining
him, seemed to have little hope of saving his life
Wagonseller then came to Philadephia to stop at
his sisters house to receive treatment from her ply
sican, DR.. Stewart, of No. 1,S40 Green street.


MAN GROWS WORSE.


Dr. Stewart was called upon to visit the patient on
the fifth day after the occurrence He advised him
to take swallow OF gin the rcadiest means of dis


lodging the teeth. which still remained i'll the throat
The patient followed his advice, and almost imme


diatcy felt the teeth going down. But this only led
to worse result. The teeth moved down and lodged
about one inch and half q above the entrance to
the stomach. Had they passed into the stomach,
the would have been over But lodging as they
did the patient could swallow nothing not even milk
or water. It absolutely impossible to get any
thing down his throat Milk was recommended, but
when it would be poured down soon as the glass
would be removed from his lips it would come back,
exudng from ears. eyes. mouth and nostrils. The
strangest Of all was what followed. The man lived
for seven weeks without swallowing a morsel OF
food a drop of water. Even the juice of orange
| he could not swallow From stout, hearty man,
weighing probably 100 pounds. he dwndled away to
a mere skeleton His hands became horrible to look


ut by OF their loss of esh Strangely enough.


too, all this time the man. who was perfectly con-
scious and rational had appetite, craving for
food The smell of victuals lie said made him sick.
From the time he went to his sisters house, four
| days after the accident, he had not stood on his
| feet lying alternately on bed and in an invalid s
chair. This posture he kept at the recommendation
his physician. until from lack of food he became
and he had to lie all the time Operation with
strument was suggested by his physician, but this
his sister would not consent TO, unless assurance
could be given that 1t would result in saving his life
This, of course, the physician could not promise,
and such operation was tried.


SEVEN WEEKS WITHOUT FOOD.


After being for seven weeks without food
wagonseler died. death resulting from nanition, or,


in other words. starvation. To the very last he had
no appetite for food The day before his death he
began to get short Of breath and told his relatives
that he felt himself dying Up to the last hour hc
retained his and talked freely about his case
instructing his relatives to have post-mortem
examination madc upon his body. In accord
ance with his request the examination
made bv Drs. Stewart and Agnew. The plate.
with the teeth i'll it, found about one
inch and half above the entrance Of the stomach.
the hooks firmly imbedded in the flesh. There
marks ut certain intervals i'll the throat showing the
progress of the plate it passed downward, the
prints OF the teeth being in several places plainly
visible. Had the plate. which was about two inches
long and inch wide. passed into the stomach. in
the opinion the ply sicans it would have dissolved
and the mans life been saved. As it was. the plate
passed down the throat transverse FORM and
once lodged ut the furthest point, displacement
impossible.