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BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
CEREBRAL HYPERAEMIA: THE RESULT OF MENTAL STRAIN
OR EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCES. 16mo, cloth ... $1 00
"Under the disguise of these hard words, Dr. Hammond presents a
variety of admirable counsels, with regard to an excess of blood in
the head, pointing out its causes, its symptoms, the mode of its
medical treatment, and the means of its prevention."--_N. Y. Tribune._
"The work is not only of interest to the medical man, but also is
one easily understood and to be read with profit by brain-workers of
all classes, whether in profession, in literature or business. It
treats of the cause of headaches, the wakefulness, the illusions or
delusions, and feelings of tightness in the head, which so many of
our American writers and thinkers experience, and it gives valuable
information available by laymen as to the prevention and remedy for
this affection, which later on leads to insanity or death."--_Boston
Traveller._
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK.
FASTING GIRLS;
THEIR PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY
BY
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D.
PROFESSOR OF DISEASES OF THE MIND AND NERVOUS SYSTEM IN THE
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF
NEW YORK, AND IN THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT. ETC.
"There is no new thing under the Sun."
--_Eccl._ I, 9.
"Nil spernat auris, nec tamen credat statim."
--PHAEDRUS.
NEW YORK
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
182 FIFTH AVENUE
1879
COPYRIGHT BY
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS.
1879.
Transcriber's Note:
Greek text has been transliterated and is shown between {braces}.
The oe ligature is shown as [oe].
PREFACE.
In issuing this little book I have been actuated by a desire to do
something towards the removal of a lamentable degree of popular
ignorance.
It seems that no proposition that can be made is so absurd or impossible
but that many people, ordinarily regarded as intelligent, will be found
to accept it and to aid in its propagation. And hence, when it is
asserted that a young lady has lived for fourteen years without food of
any kind, hundreds and thousands of persons throughout the length and
breadth of a civilized land at once yield their belief to the monstrous
declaration.
I have confined my remarks entirely to the question of abstinence from
food. The other supernatural gifts, the possession of which is claimed,
would, if considered, have extended the limits of this little volume
beyond the bounds which were deemed expedient. At some future time I may
be tempted to discuss them. In the meantime it is well to call to mind
that a proposition (_see_ Appendix) which I made solely in the interest
of truth was disregarded, ostensibly with the desire to avoid publicity,
when in fact the daily press had for weeks been filled with reports in
detail, furnished by the friends of the young lady in question, of the
marvellous powers she was said to possess.
A portion of this essay, which bore upon the matter discussed, has been
taken from another volume by the author, published several years ago,
and now out of print.
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND.
43 WEST 54TH STREET,
MARCH _1st, 1879_.
CONTENTS
PAGE
I ABSTINENCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 1
II ABSTINENCE IN MODERN TIMES 6
III ABSTINENCE FROM FOOD, WITH STIGMATIZATION 31
IV THE BROOKLYN CASE 48
V THE PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY OF INANITION 59
FASTING GIRLS.
I.
ABSTINENCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
Among the many remarkable manifestations by which hysteria exhibits
itself, for the astonishment of the credulous and uneducated portion of
the public, and--alas, that it should have to be said,--for the
delectation of an occasional weak-minded and ignorant physician, the
assumption of the ability to live without food may be assigned a
prominent place. I am not aware that this power has been claimed in its
fullest development for the male of the human species. When he is
deprived of food he dies in a few days, more or less, according to his
physical condition as regards adipose tissue and strength of
constitution; but if a weak emaciated girl asserts that she is able to
exist for years without eating, there are at once certificates and
letters from clergymen, professors, and even physicians, in support of
the truth of her story. The element of impossibility goes for nothing
against the bare word of such a woman, and her statements are accepted
with a degree of confidence which is lamentable to witness in this era
of the world's progress.
The class of deceptions occasionally induced by hysteria, and embracing
these "fasting girls," has been known for many years, though it is only
in comparatively recent times that the instances have been taken at
their proper value. Goerres[1] gives a number of examples occurring among
male and female saints and other holy persons, in which partial or total
abstinence from food was said to have existed for long periods.
Thus Liduine of Schiedam fell ill in 1395, and remained in that state
till her death, thirty-three years subsequently. During the first
nineteen years she ate every day nothing but a little piece of apple the
size of a holy wafer, and drank a little water and a swallow of beer, or
sometimes a little sweet milk. Subsequently, being unable to digest beer
and milk, she restricted herself to a little wine and water, and still
later she was obliged to confine herself to water alone, which served
her both as food and drink. But after nineteen years she took nothing
whatever, according to her own statement made to some friars in 1422,
she averring that for eight years nothing in the way of nourishment had
passed her lips, and that for twenty years she had seen neither the sun
nor the moon, nor had touched the earth with her feet.
Saint Joseph of Copertino remained for five years without eating bread,
and ten years without drinking wine, contenting himself with dried
fruits, which he mixed with various bitter herbs. The herb which he used
for Fridays had such an atrocious taste, that one of the brethren, by
simply putting his tongue to it, was seized with vomiting, and for
several days thereafter everything he ate excited nausea. He fasted for
forty days seven times every year, and during these periods ate nothing
at all except on Sundays and Thursdays.
Nicolas of Flue, as soon as he embraced the monastic life, subsisted
altogether on the holy eucharist. The pious Goerres in explanation of
this miracle says:
"In ordinary nourishment he who eats being superior to that which is
eaten, assimilates the aliments which he takes, and communicates to them
his own nature. But in the eucharist the aliment is more powerful than
he who eats. It is no longer therefore the nourishment which is
assimilated, but on the contrary, it assimilates the man, and introduces
him into a superior sphere. An entire change is produced. The
supernatural life in some way or other absorbs the natural life, and the
man instead of living on earth, lives henceforth by grace and by
heaven."
This is about on a par, as regards lucidity and logic, with the
explanations which we are given of the alleged case of prolonged fasting
in Brooklyn.
Doubts arose in regard to Nicolas, and the bishop had him watched, but
without detecting him in fraud. Finally he ordered him to eat a piece of
bread in his presence. Nicolas did as he was commanded, but at the first
mouthful he was seized with violent vomiting. The bishop inquired of him
how he thus managed to live without eating, to which the brother
answered that when he assisted at mass, and when he took the holy
eucharist, he felt a degree of strength and suppleness like that derived
from the most nutritious food.
Still the doubters continued, and the inhabitants of Underwold, where
Nicolas lived, appear to have been at first very much inclined to
suspect him of deceit. But they were finally converted, for having
during a whole month guarded every approach to his cabin, and having
during that time detected no one in taking food to him, they were
convinced that for that time at least he had lived without food. The
sceptical reasoner of the present day would probably regard the test as
insufficient.
In 1225, Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, having heard that there was at
Leicester a nun who had taken no nourishment for seven years, and who
lived only on the eucharist, which she took every Sunday, gave at first
no faith to the story. He sent to her, however, fifteen clerks, with
directions to watch her assiduously for fifteen days, never for an
instant losing sight of her. The clerks reported to him that they had
strictly obeyed his commands; that she had taken no nourishment, and
that yet she nevertheless preserved her full strength and health.
Whereupon the Bishop declared himself convinced, "as," adds Goerres, "it
was proper for a sensible man to do."
Among others of the holy persons who acquired the power of living on the
sacramental bread, may be mentioned St. Catharine of Sienna, Saint Rose
of Lima, Saint Collete, Saint Peter of Alcantara, and many others.
But if saints and other holy people were able, through miraculous power,
to live without food, the same ability was claimed for those who were
under the influence of demons and devils. Goerres[2] states that a person
possessed by a devil often loses all taste for food of any kind, and can
retain no nourishment in his body. Another symptom is a disgust which
is formed for the companionship of other persons. Thus a man was
tormented by a demon, who forced him to fly into the forests, where he
hid himself from mankind. One night he quit his house, and concealed
himself in a cavern, remaining there entirely without food for sixteen
days. Again he remained in the woods twenty-four days, neither eating
nor drinking during this period. Finally his children found him, and
taking him to a priest, had the devil exorcised, and he was cured.
Saint Prosper, of Aquitaine, speaks of a young girl possessed by a
devil, and who went seventy days without eating. Notwithstanding this
long fast, she did not become emaciated, because every night at twelve
o'clock a bird sent by the devil took a mysterious nourishment to her.
An astonishing feature in the cases of the diabolical abstaining from
food, is that, as in the holy instances, they exhibit various
manifestations of hysteria. Goerres, with a charming degree of
simplicity, details these symptoms and failing, under the influence of
the predominant idea which fills him, to recognize their real character,
ascribes them without hesitation to devilish agency. Thus he says:
"The functions of the organs of nutrition are sometimes profoundly
altered in the possessed, and these alterations are manifested by
violent cramps, which show the extent to which the muscular system is
affected. The hysterical lump in the throat is a frequent phenomenon in
possession. A young girl in the Valley of Calepino had all her limbs
twisted and contracted, and had in the [oe]sophagus a sensation as if a
ball was sometimes rising in her throat, and again falling to her
stomach. Her countenance was of an ashen hue, and she had a constant
sense of weight and pain in the head. All the remedies of physicians had
failed, and as evidences of possession were discovered in her, she was
brought to Brignoli (a priest) who had recourse to supernatural means,
and cured her."
Strange to say, the ability to live on the eucharist, and to resist
starvation by diabolical power, died out with the middle ages, and was
replaced by the "fasting girls," who still continue to amuse us with
their vagaries. To the consideration of some of the more striking
instances of more recent times the attention of the reader is invited,
in the confidence that much of interest in the study of the "History of
Human Folly" will be adduced.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] La Mystique Divine, Naturelle et Diabolique. Paris, 1861. t. I., p.
194, _et seq._
[2] Op. cit. t. IV., p. 446.
II.
ABSTINENCE IN MODERN TIMES.
Among the more striking cases under this head, is that of Margaret
Weiss, a young girl ten years of age, who lived at Rode, a small village
near Spires, and whose history has come down to us through various
channels, but principally from Gerardus Bucoldianus,[3] who had the
medical charge of her, and who wrote a little book describing his
patient. Margaret is said to have abstained from all food and drink for
three years, in the meantime growing, walking about, laughing, and
talking like other children of her age. During the first year, however,
she suffered greatly from pains in her head and abdomen, and, a common
condition in hysteria--all four of her limbs were contracted. She passed
neither urine nor faeces. Margaret, though only ten years old--hysteria
develops the secretive faculties--played her part so well that, after
being watched by the priest of the parish and Dr. Bucoldianus, she was
considered free from all juggling, and was sent home to her friends by
order of the King, "not," the doctor adds, "without great admiration and
princely gifts." Although fully accepting the fact of Margaret's
abstinence, Dr. Bucoldianus appears to have been somewhat staggered, for
he asks very pertinently: "Whence comes the animal heat, since she
neither eats nor drinks, and why does the body grow when nothing goes
into it?"
Schenckius[4] quotes from Paulus Lentulus the "Wonderful History of the
Fasting of Appolonia Schreira, a virgin in Berne." Lentulus states that
he was with this maid on three occasions, and that, by order of the
magistrate of Berne, she was taken to that city and a strict guard kept
upon her. All kinds of means were set in operation to detect imposture
if any existed, but none was discovered, and she was set at liberty as a
genuine case of ability to live without food. In the first year of her
fasting she scarcely slept, and in the second year never closed her eyes
in sleep; and so she continued for a long while after.
Schenckius also advances the case of Katharine Binder, of the
Palatinate, who was closely watched by a clergyman, a statesman, and two
doctors of medicine, without the detection of fraud on her part. She was
said to have taken nothing but air into her system for nine years and
more, as Lentulus reported on the authority of Fabricius. This
last-named physician told Lentulus of another case, that of a girl
fourteen years old, who certainly had taken neither food nor drink for
at least three years.
"But," says Dr. Hakewel,[5] "the strangest that I have met with of this
kind, is the history of Eve Fliegen, out of Dutch translated into
English, and printed at London, _anno_ 1611, who, being born at Meurs,
is said to have taken no kind of sustenance for the space of fourteen
years together; that is, from the year of her age, twenty-two to
thirty-six, and from the year of our Lord 1597 to 1611; and this we have
confirmed by the testimony of the magistrates of the town of Meurs, as
also by the minister who made trial of her in his house thirteen days
together by all the means he could devise, but could detect no
imposture." Over the picture of this maid, set in front of the Dutch
copy, stand these Latin verses:
"Meursae haec quam cernis decies ter, sexque peregit,
Annos, bis septem prorsus non viscitur annis
Nec potat, sic sola sedet, sic pallida vitam
Ducit, et exigui se oblectat floribus horti."
Thus rendered in the English copy:
"This maid of Meurs thirty and six years spent,
Fourteen of which she took no nourishment;
Thus pale and wan she sits sad and alone,
A garden's all she loves to look upon."
Franciscus Citesius,[6] physician to the King of France and to Cardinal
Richelieu, devotes a good deal of space and attention to the case of
Joan Balaam, a native of the city of Constance. She was well grown, but
of bad manners. About the eleventh year of her age she was attacked with
a fever, and among other symptoms vomited for twenty days. Then she
became speechless and so continued for twenty-four days. Then she
talked, but her speech was raving and incoherent. Finally she lost all
power of motion and of sensibility in the parts below the head and could
not swallow. From thenceforth she could not be persuaded to take food.
Six months afterwards she regained the use of her limbs, but the
inability to swallow remained and she acquired a great loathing for all
kinds of meat and drink. The secretions and excretions appeared to be
arrested. Nevertheless she was very industrious, employing her time in
running errands, sweeping the house, spinning, and such like. This maid
continued thus fasting for the space of nearly three years, and then by
degrees took to eating and drinking again.
Before coming to more recent cases, there is one other to which I desire
to refer for the reason mainly that in it there was probably organic
disease in addition to fraud and hysteria. It is cited by Fabricius[7]
and by Wanley. _Anno Dom._, 1595, a maid of about thirteen years was
brought out of the dukedom of Juliers to Cologne, and there in a broad
street at the sign of the White Horse exposed to the sight of as many as
desired to see her. The parents of this maid affirmed that she had lived
without any kind of food or drink for the space of three whole years;
and this they confirmed by the testimony of divers persons, such as are
worthy of credit. Fabricius observed her with great care. She was of a
sad and melancholy countenance; her whole body was sufficiently fleshy
except only her belly, which was compressed so as that it seemed to
cleave to her back-bone. Her liver and the rest of her bowels were
perceived to be hard by laying the hand on the belly. As for excrements,
she voided none; and did so far abhor all kinds of food, that when one,
who came to see her privately, put a little sugar in her mouth she
immediately swooned away. But what was most wonderful was, that this
maid walked up and down, played with other girls, danced, and did all
other things that were done by girls of her age; neither had she any
difficulty of breathing, speaking or crying out. Her parents declared
that she had been in this condition for three years.
A great many more to the same effect might be adduced, but the foregoing
are sufficient to indicate the fact that belief in the possibility of
such occurrences was quite general, and that if doubt did exist in
regard to their real nature, it was not so strong as not readily to be
overcome by the tricks and devices of hysterical women.
In the following instances of more modern date the reader will perceive
the view which is taken of them by physicians of the present day, and
will doubtless discover their real nature.
About sixty-five years ago, a woman of Sudbury, in Staffordshire,
England, named Ann Moore, declared that she did not eat, and a number of
persons volunteered to watch her, in order to ascertain whether or not
she was speaking the truth. The watch was continued for three weeks and
then the watchers, as in other instances, reported that Ann Moore was a
real case of abstinence from food of all kinds. The Bible was always
kept open on Ann's bed. Her emaciation was so extreme that it was said
her vertebral column could be felt through the abdominal walls. This sad
condition was asserted to have been caused by her washing the linen of a
person affected with ulcers. From that time she experienced a dislike
for food, and even nausea at the sight or mention of it.
As soon as the watchers reported in favor of the genuineness of Ann's
pretensions her notoriety increased, and visitors came from all parts of
the country, leaving donations to the extent of two hundred and fifty
pounds in the course of two years. Doubts, however, again arose, and,
bold from the immunity she had experienced from the first investigation,
Ann in an evil moment, for the continuance of her fraud, consented to a
second watching. This committee was composed of notable persons, among
them being Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart., Rev. Legh Richmond, Dr. Fox, and
his son, and many other gentlemen of the country. Two of them were
always in her room night and day. At the suggestion of Mr. Francis Fox,
the bedstead, bedding, and the woman in it were placed on a weighing
machine, and thus it was ascertained that she regularly lost weight
daily. At the expiration of the ninth day of this strict watching, Dr.
Fox found her evidently sinking and told her she would soon die unless
she took food. After a little prevarication, the woman signed a written
confession that she was an impostor, and had "occasionally taken
sustenance for the last six years." She also stated that during the
first watch of three weeks her daughter had contrived, when washing her
face, to feed her every morning, by using towels made very wet with
gravy, milk, or strong arrowroot gruel, and had also conveyed food from
mouth to mouth in kissing her, which it is presumed she did very
often.[8]
In a clinical lecture delivered at St. George's Hospital,[9] Dr. John W.
Ogle calls attention to the simulation of fasting as a manifestation of
hysteria, and relates the following amusing case:
"A girl strongly hysterical, aged twenty, in spite of all persuasion and
medical treatment, refused every kind of food, or if made to eat, soon
vomited the contents of the stomach. On November 6th, 1869, whilst the
girl was apparently suffering in the same manner, the Queen passed the
hospital on her way to open Blackfriars Bridge. She arose in bed so as
to look out of the window, although up to this time declaring that every
movement of her body caused intense pain. On December 29, the following
letter in the girl's handwriting, addressed to another patient in the
same ward, was picked up from the floor: 'My Dear Mrs. Evens,--I was
very sorry you should take the trouble of cutting me such a nice piece
of bread and butter, yesterday. I would of taken it but all of them saw
you send it, and then they would have made enough to have talked about.
But I should be very glad if you would cut me a nice piece of crust and
put it in a piece of paper and send it, or else bring it, so that they
do not see it, for they all watch me very much, and I should like to be
your friend and you to be mine. Mrs. Winslow, (the nurse) is going to
chapel. I will make it up with you when I can go as far. Do not send it
if you cannot spare it. Good bye, and God bless you.' Although she
prevaricated about this letter, she appears to have gradually improved
from this time on, and one day walked out of the hospital and left it
altogether. She subsequently wrote a letter to the authorities
expressing her regret at having gone on as she did."
One of the most remarkable instances of the kind, is that of Sarah
Jacob, known as the "Welsh Fasting Girl," and whose history and tragical
death excited a great deal of comment in the medical and lay press in
Great Britain a few years ago. The following account of the case is
mainly derived from Dr. Fowler's[10] interesting work.
Sarah Jacob was born May 12th, 1857. Her parents were farmers and were
uneducated, simple-minded, and ignorant persons. In her earlier years
she had been healthy, was intelligent, given to religious reading, and
was said to have written poetry of her own composition. She was a very
pretty child and was, according to the testimony of the vicar, the Rev.
Evan Jones, a "good girl."
About February 15th, 1867, when she was not quite ten years of age, she
complained of pain in the pit of the stomach, and one morning on getting
up, she told her mother that she had found her mouth full of bloody
froth. The pain continued, and medical attendance was obtained. Soon
afterwards she had strong convulsions of an epileptiform character and
then other spasms of a clearly hysterical form, during which her body
was bent in the form of a bow as in tetanus, the head and heels only
touching the bed. Then the muscular spasm ceased and she fell at full
length on the bed. For a whole month she continued in a state of
unconsciousness, suffering from frequent repetitions of severe
convulsive attacks, during which time she took little food. Mr. Davies,
the surgeon, said in his evidence, that she was for a whole month, in a
kind of permanent fit, lying on her back, with rigidity of all the
muscles. For some time her life was despaired of, then her fits ceased
to be convulsive and consisted of short periods of loss of consciousness
with sudden awakings. For the next two or three months (till August,
1867) she took daily, from six, gradually decreasing to four, teacupfuls
of rice and milk, or oatmeal and milk, which according to her father's
account, was cast up again immediately and blood and froth with it.
During this time the bowels were only acted on once in six or nine days.
"Up to this time," said her father, "she could move both arms and one
leg, but the other leg was rigid."
By the beginning of October, 1867, her quantity of daily food had, it
was affirmed, dwindled down to nothing but a little apple about the size
of a pill, which she took from a tea-spoon. At this time she made water
about every other day; she looked very bad in the face, but was not
thin. On the tenth day of October, it was solemnly declared that she
ceased to take any food whatever, and so continued till the day of her
death, December 17th, 1869, a period of two years, two months, and one
week.
"Of the veracity of the assertion in respect of _the one week_," says
Dr. Fowler, "there is unfortunately plenty of evidence. To the absurdity
of believing in the barest possibility of twenty-six months absolute
abstinence, it is sufficient to reply that when to our knowledge, she
was completely deprived of food, the girl died! The parents most
persistently impressed upon every private as well as official visitor,
both before and during the last fatal watching, that the girl did not
take food; that she could not swallow; that whenever food was mentioned
to her she became as it were, excited; that when it was offered to her
she would have a fit, or the offer would make her ill. The sworn
testimony of the vicar, the Rev. Wm. Thomas, Sister Clinch, Ann Jones,
and the other nurses, is sufficiently confirmative on this point.
Furthermore, the parents went so far as to expressly forbid the mere
mention of food in the girl's presence."
Towards the end of October, 1867, the case had attracted so much
attention that the inhabitants in the neighborhood first began visiting
the marvellous little girl.
"In the beginning of November of the same year, the Rev. Evan Jones,
B.D., the vicar of the parish, was sent for by the parents to visit
Sarah Jacob. He was at once--by the mother--told of the girl's wonderful
fasting powers; it was admitted she took water occasionally. He was also
informed of the extraordinary perversion of her natural functions (the
suppression of urine and faecal evacuations.) He found her lying on her
back in bed, which was covered with books. There was nothing then
remarkable about her dress. The girl looked weak and delicate, though
not pale, and answered only in monosyllables. 'The mother said her child
was very anxious about the state of her soul, that it had such an effect
upon her mind that she could not sleep.' I asked her myself if she had a
desire to become a member of the Church of England? She said, 'Yes!' She
continued to express that wish until July, 1869. At this time the
reverend gentleman did not believe in the statements relative to the
girl's abstinence. 'Every time,' he says, 'that I had a conversation
with her up to the end of 1868, the parents both persisted that she
lived without food, and continued their statements in January and
February, 1869. I remonstrated with them and dwelt upon the apparent
impossibility of the thing. They still persisted that it was a fact.'
"Even as late as September, 1869, the vicar reiterated his ministerial
remonstrances. When, in the beginning of the spring of 1869, he observed
the fantastical changes the parents made in the girl's daily attire, he
told them about the remarks made in the papers about this dressing and
dwelt upon the impropriety of it. They replied, 'She had no other
pleasure--they did not like denying it to her.' During the following
summer, finding that the girl looked more plump in the face and that her
general improvement was more conspicuous, he said, 'Sarah is evidently
improving and gaining, and you say she takes no food; you are certainly
imposing on the public.' I then dwelt on the sinfulness of continuing
the fraud on the public. I said there were on record several cases of
alleged fasting, some of which had been put to the test and had been
discovered to be impositions; that those families would ever be held in
execration by posterity, and such would be the case with them whenever
this imposture was found out. The mother then assured me no imposition
would be discovered in that house, because there was none."
The father and mother both said that the Lord provided for her in a most
natural way, and that it was a miracle. The father always talked about
the "Doctor Mawr," meaning God Almighty; that she was supported by that
"Big Doctor."
Then soon began the custom of leaving money or other presents with the
child, till at last every one who visited her, was expected to give
something. Open house was kept and pilgrims came from near and far to
see the wonderful girl who lived without food.
When money was not forthcoming, presents of clothes, finery, books, or
flowers, appear to have been substituted. Advantage was taken of these
presents to bedeck the child in every variety of smartness. At one time
she had a victorine about her neck and a wreath about her hair, then
again, ornaments and a jacket on, and her hair neatly dressed with
ribbons. At another time she had a silk shawl, a victorine around her
neck, a small crucifix attached to a necklace, and little ribbons above
the wrists. She had drab gloves on and her bed was nearly covered with
books.
Notwithstanding the alleged fasting, Sarah Jacob continued to improve in
health.
And now comes an astounding feature of this most remarkable case. The
vicar became convinced that the instance was one of real abstinence. A
little hysterical girl twelve years of age, by her perseverance in
lying, had actually succeeded in inducing an educated gentleman to
accept the truth of her statements! The following letter which was
published on the 19th of February, 1869, speaks for itself:--
"A STRANGE CASE.
"To the Editor of the _Welshman_.
"Sir: Allow me to invite the attention of your readers to a most
extraordinary case. Sarah Jacob, a little girl twelve years of age,
and daughter of Mr. Evan Jacob, Lletherneuadd, in this parish, has
not partaken of a single grain of any kind of food whatever, during
the last sixteen months. She did occasionally swallow a few drops of
water during the first few months of this period; but now she does
not even do that. She still looks pretty well in the face and
continues in the possession of all her mental faculties. She is in
this and several other respects, a wonderful little girl.
"Medical men persist in saying that the thing is quite impossible,
but all the nearest neighbors, who are thoroughly acquainted with
the circumstances of the case, entertain no doubt whatever of the
subject, and I am myself of the same opinion.
"Would it not be worth their while for medical men to make an
investigation into the nature of this strange case? Mr. Evan Jacob
would readily admit into his house any respectable person who might
be anxious to watch it and to see for himself.
"I may add, that Lletherneuadd is a farm-house about a mile from New
Inn, in this parish.
"Yours faithfully,
"THE VICAR OF LLANFIHANGEL-AR-ARTH."
The suggestions of the vicar relative to an investigation, were soon
after afterwards acted upon by certain gentlemen of the neighborhood. A
public meeting was called and a committee of watchers was appointed to
be constantly in attendance in the room with Sarah Jacob, and to observe
to the best of their ability, whether or not she took any food during
the investigation. It was agreed that the watching was to continue for a
fortnight.
Prior to the beginning of this watching, no precautions were taken
against food being conveyed into the room and concealed there. The
parents actually debarred the watchers from touching the child's bed.
The very first element of success was therefore denied, and no wonder
that the whole affair was subsequently regarded as an absurdity. The
watching consisted in two different men taking alternate watches from
eight till eight. The watching to see whether the child partook of food,
commenced on March 22d, and ended April 5th, 1869--a period of fourteen
days.
During the above fortnight, one of the watchers, in turn, was always
close to her bed, and in her sight day and night, and at the time the
bed was being made, which was generally every other morning, the four
persons were always present and had every article thoroughly examined.
The parents were allowed to go near the bed, as also was the little
sister, six years old, who had been Sarah's constant companion and
bed-fellow.
On Wednesday, April 7th, 1869, a public meeting was held at the Eagle
Inn, Llandyfeil, to hear the statements of the parents and of the
several persons who had watched the child during the fourteen days. The
parents briefly detailed the condition and symptoms of their daughter
from the commencement of her illness. At no time during the whole
fourteen days did the pulse ever reach above ninety per minute, although
exceedingly changeable, as it always had been. The following evidence
was received from the watchers, and it is _said_ that their statements
were duly verified on oath before a magistrate:--
Watcher No. 1 said: I, Evan Edward Smith, watched Sarah Jacob for two
consecutive nights, (_i. e._, nights 22d and 23d of March) at the
request of Mr. H. H. Davies, surgeon. The parents gave every facility to
investigate the matter. I watched her with all possible care, and found
nothing to suspect that food or drink was given her by foul means. I am
quite sure she had nothing during my watch. I was dismissed on account
of being suspected to doze on the second night.
Watcher No. 2. This watcher watched Sarah Jacob for a whole fortnight,
and found no indications that the child had anything to eat or drink. He
was a college student, Daniel Harris Davies.
Watcher No. 3. John Jones, a shopkeeper, gave similar evidence. He was a
decided sceptic before he began watching, but after twelve days was
thoroughly convinced of the fact that nothing in the shape of
nourishment was given to the poor child. He watched every movement of
all the inmates, and found nothing that would lead him to suspect that
any nourishment was given to the little girl.
Watcher No. 4. James Harris Davies, a medical student, spoke in like
manner, and was perfectly positive that nothing had been given to her
during the fortnight he had watched there, with the exception of three
drops of water, once, to moisten her lips with. He was as great a
sceptic as any one before he began watching, but as he saw nothing to
confirm his suspicions, he could conscientiously say that nothing had
been given her during his watch.
Watcher No. 5. Evan Davies, of Powel Castle, who only watched her for
one day, gave similar evidence, but as he was a neighbour he was
dismissed for a stranger.
Watcher No. 6. Herbert Jones, watched only one day, and spoke in a
similar manner, and was dismissed on account of his credulity.
Watcher No. 7. Thomas Davies, who had been the greatest sceptic of all,
was strongly convinced. He watched Sarah Jacob twelve days, and was
quite positive that nothing could have been given her during his watch.
He watched her with all possible care, and was very cautious to be in a
prominent place, where Sarah Jacob's mouth was always in sight.
Evidence, however, was given which went to show that the watching was
very imperfectly performed; that occasionally the watchers left before
their time had expired; that intoxicating liquors were taken by them to
the house, and that one of them was drunk while there. It was also shown
that the father and mother had free access to the bed, while the
watchers were absolutely prohibited from examining it. It is therefore
with entire justification that Dr. Fowler states that the watching "was
the greatest possible farce and mockery."
After the report of the watchers the notoriety of Sarah Jacob of course
became still greater; crowds came to visit her, and among others the
Rev. Frederic Rowland Young went to see her, and made an unsuccessful
effort to cure her by laying on of hands. When Dr. Fowler visited her,
August 30th, 1869, on getting out at the nearest railway station, he was
met by little boys bearing placards with the words "Fasting Girl," and
"This is the shortest way to Llethernoryadd-ucha," on them. In his
letter to the _Times_, giving an account of his visit, Dr. Fowler
says:--
"The first impression was most unfavorable, and to a medical man the
appearances were most suspicious. The child was lying on a bed decorated
as a bride, having around her head a wreath of flowers, from which was
suspended a smart ribbon, the ends of which were joined by a small bunch
of flowers, after the present fashion of ladies' bonnet strings. Before
her, at proper reading distance, was an open Welsh book, supported by
two other books on her body. The blanket covering was clean, tidy, and
perfectly smooth. Across the fire-place, which was nearly opposite the
foot of her bed, was an arrangement of shelves, well stocked with
English and Welsh books, the gifts of various visitors to the house. The
child is thirteen years of age, and is undoubtedly very pretty. Her face
was plump, and her cheeks and lips of a beautiful rosy color. Her eyes
were bright and sparkling, the pupils were very dilated, in a measure
explicable by the fact of the child's head and face being shaded from
the window-light by the projecting side of the cupboard bedstead. There
was that restless movement and frequent looking out at the corners of
the eyes so characteristic of simulative disease. Considering the
lengthened inactivity of the girl, her muscular development was very
good, and the amount of fat layer not inconsiderable. My friend stated
that she looked even better than she did about a twelvemonth ago. There
was a slight perspiration over the surface of the body. The pulse was
perfectly natural, as were also the sounds of the lungs and heart, so
far as I was enabled to make a stethoscopic examination. Having received
permission to do this, I proceeded to make the necessary derangement of
dress, when the girl went off into what the mother called a fainting
fit. This consisted of nothing but a little and momentary hysterical
crying and sobbing. The color never left the lips or cheeks. The pulse
remained of the same power. Consciousness could have been but slightly
diminished, inasmuch as on my then opening the eyelids I perceived a
distinct upward and other movement of the eyeballs. Each percussion
stroke of my examination, and even the pressure of the stethoscope,
produced an expression of pain, which elicited a natural sympathy from
the mother, and an assertion that a continuance of such examination
would bring on further fits. On percussing the region of the stomach, I
most distinctly perceived the sound of gurgling, which we know to be
caused by the admixture of air and fluid in motion. The most positive
assertion of the parents was subsequently made that saving a fortnightly
moistening of her lips with cold water, the child had neither ate nor
drank anything for the last twenty-three months. The whole region of the
belly was tympanitic, and the muscular walls of this cavity were tense
and drum-like--a condition not infrequently concomitant of a well-known
class of nervous disorders. The child's intellectual faculties and
special senses were perfectly healthy. Before her illness she was very
much devoted to religious reading. This devotion has lately considerably
increased. She is a member of the Church of England, and has been
confirmed."
Dr. Fowler then adds some other interesting particulars, all going to
show the impossibility of the girl's being the subject of any exhausting
disease, or of even having been continuously in bed, as her parents
asserted, for nearly two years; and then says:--
"The whole case is in fact one of simulative hysteria, in a young girl
having the propensity to deceive very strongly developed. Therewith may
be probably associated the power or habit of prolonged fasting. Both
patient and mother admitted the occasional occurrence of the choking
sensation called _globus hystericus_."
This letter excited renewed discussion in the newspapers, and a second
public meeting was called to make arrangements for a second watching. At
this meeting it was decided to bring down from Guy's Hospital, London,
several trained nurses, who were to conduct the watching; and the
following resolutions were adopted, as expressing the terms under which
the inquiry was to be conducted:--
1. It would be advisable, before taking any steps in the matter, to
obtain a written legal guarantee from the father of Sarah Jacob
sanctioning the necessary proceedings. 2. That the duty of the nurses
shall be to watch Sarah Jacob with a view to ascertain whether she
partakes of any kind of food, and at the end of a fortnight to report
upon the case before the local committee in Carmarthenshire, and, if
required, at Guy's Hospital. 3. That two nurses shall be constantly
awake and on the watch in the girl's room, night and day. 4. It would be
advisable for the nearest medical practitioner to watch the progress of
the case; and it will be absolutely necessary for him to _be prepared
against any serious symptoms of exhaustion, supervening on the strict
enforcement of the watching, and to act according to his judgment_. 5.
That the room in which the girl sleeps shall be bared of all unnecessary
furniture, and all possible places in the room for the concealment of
food shall be closed and kept under the continual scrutiny of the
watchers. 6. That if considered desirable by the local medical
practitioner, or by the nurses, the bedstead on which the girl now lies
shall be replaced by a single iron one. 7. That the bed on which the
parents now sleep, in Sarah Jacob's room, shall be given up absolutely
to the nurses. 8. That the parents be not allowed to sleep in the same
room as the girl; that if they cannot at all times be prevented from
approaching her, they should be previously searched (their pockets and
other recesses of clothing as well as the interior of their mouths); and
that no wetted towels or other such articles be allowed to be used about
the girl by the parents, or any other person save the nurses; that the
children of the family, and in fact every other person whatever (except
the nurses), have similar restraints put upon them. 9. That the nurses
have the sole management of preparing the room, bed, and patient, prior
to the commencement of the watching. 10. That, as it is asserted the
action of the bowels and bladder is entirely suspended, special
attention must be directed to these organs.
Four experienced women nurses were accordingly deputed from Guy's
Hospital to take the entire charge of Sarah Jacob, and to watch her for
fourteen days. They were instructed not to prevent her having food if
she asked for it, but they were to see that she got none without their
knowledge. On the 9th of December, 1869, at 4 P.M., the room was cleared
of people and the watching began.
In the first place it was ascertained that the girl had repeated
evacuations of urine, and once, at least, of faeces.
Gradually evidences of mental and physical disturbance began to appear.
The watch was so closely kept that no food or drink reached the child,
and she did not ask for any.
"At 10 P.M.," to quote the language of the journal kept by the sister
nurse, "she was restless and threw her arms about. She was very cold,
and the nurses put warm flannels on her. This was the last day on which
she passed urine."
Thursday, December 16, 3 A.M.--She was rolling from one side of the bed
to the other. At half-past three she wished the bed made, and they made
it. She was looking very pale and anxious. Her eyes were sunk and her
nose pinched, and the cheek bones were prominent. Her arms and hands
were cold, her feet and legs were the same. Ann Jones, one of the
nurses, says in her memoranda, "She was very restless and appeared to me
to be sinking. Her lips were very dry, and her mouth seemed parched."
The peculiar smell (the starvation smell) about the bed was so strong as
to make the sister nurse quite ill.
At 11 A.M., the vicar saw her and told the parents that the child was
gradually failing, and suggested to them the propriety of sending the
nurses away and giving her a chance to obtain food, but they refused,
saying that there was nothing to do but what the nurses were doing, and
that they had seen her quite as weak before. The parents were urged by
others to give up the fight by sending the nurses away, but they refused
on the ground that want of food had nothing to do with the symptoms, and
that she would not eat whether the nurses were there or not.
Ann Jones subsequently testified before the coroner: "Before one and two
o'clock on Thursday afternoon (Dec. 16), she kept talking to herself. I
could not understand whether she was speaking Welsh or English. Up to
that time I could understand her. She pointed her fingers at some books;
I gave her one, but she took no notice of it; she was not able to read
it. _Both parents were then told the girl was dying._"
Repeatedly they were begged to withdraw the nurses, and again and again
they refused, saying there was no occasion--that she had often been in
that way, that it was not from want of food, etc. The girl became weaker
and weaker; low, muttering delirium ensued, and on the 17th of December,
1869, at about half-past three o'clock, P.M., the "Welsh Fasting Girl"
died, actually starved to death, in the middle of the nineteenth century
and in one of the most Christian and civilized countries of the world!
But this was not the end. Public opinion was much excited both against
those who had sanctioned and conducted what appeared to have been a
senseless and cruel experiment, and against the father and mother who
had wilfully and persistently refused to allow food to be given to the
dying child. A coroner's inquest was held, and the coroner appears to
have made a very satisfactory charge to the jury after the rendition of
the testimony. He said there could be no doubt of the child having died
of starvation, and that the responsibility rested with the father, who
had knowingly and designedly failed to cause his child to take food. The
mother was not responsible unless it could be shown that she had been
given food for the child by the father, and had withheld it from her. It
was marvellous, he said, how the father could have made out such a
story--such a hideous mass of nonsense, as he had under oath attempted
to impose on the jury.
The jury deliberated for a quarter of an hour, and then returned a
verdict of "Died from starvation, caused by negligence to induce the
child to take food on the part of the father;" which constituted
manslaughter.
Evan Jacob was therefore arrested. But the Secretary of State for the
Home Department took the matter up and determined that the proceedings
should go farther than the local authorities intended. At first it was
contemplated to indict the members of the General Committee for
conspiracy, but it was finally concluded to include only the medical
gentlemen who had accepted the responsibility of superintending the
watching, as well as both parents of the deceased child.