Looking at a bear, for instance, for the first time, and with no
knowledge of its habits and capacities we would not be apt to believe
that the animal could go into retirement at the beginning of winter and
remain till spring in a condition of semi-existence and without food.
But experience teaches us that the bear when it begins to hibernate is
fat; that during hibernation it is in a perfectly quiescent state; that
when it emerges into active life again it is emaciated, and that during
the whole period of retirement it has taken nothing into its stomach. We
then know by observing that all bears go through the same process, that
it is a law of their organism to do so, and that their reduced
functional actions are maintained by the consumption of the fat with
which in the beginning their bodies were loaded. Even here, then, there
is no exception to the law that there is no force without the
decomposition of matter. Now, it is just possible that by some hitherto
unknown or unrecognized condition of the system a man or woman may
obtain the force necessary to carry on life for fourteen years without
getting it through food taken into the stomach. But a possibility and a
fact are two very different things, and the admitted possibility has not
yet been shown to be a fact. It is easier--to use the argument of
Hume--for the mind to accept the view that there is deception or error
somewhere, than to believe that a woman, contrary to all human
experience, should live fourteen years without food. Turtles, we know,
will live for months while entirely deprived of nutriment. Many others
of the cold-blooded animals will do the same thing. It is their nature
to do so, and we have experience of the fact, but it is not the nature
of women, so far as we know, and therefore we refuse to accept as true
the stories which are told of their powers in this direction. And our
knowledge is based not only on our daily experience of the wants of
their systems and the examples of starvation which have come to our
knowledge, but also upon the fact that in the many cases of alleged long
abstinence from food that have been investigated, error or deception has
been discovered. Therefore, when it is said that Miss Fancher lives
without food, and has so done for fourteen years, we simply say, "give
us the proofs." Of course the proofs are not given.
How far Miss Fancher is responsible for the assertions that have been
made in regard to her long-continued abstinence I do not know. A
tendency to deception is a notable phenomenon of hysteria, and if she
has led those about her to accept the view that she has existed without
food for years, the circumstance would be in no way remarkable. Other
hysterical women have deceived in the same or in still more astonishing
ways. Or it may be that the amount of food taken being very small,
carelessness or want of exactness has led to the expression that she
lived upon "absolutely nothing," just as we hear the words used every
day by those who have little or no appetite, but who nevertheless do eat
something. Again, a love for the marvellous is so deeply rooted in the
average human mind that it willingly, and to a certain extent
unconsciously, adds to any statement of a remarkable circumstance, till
the latter grows, whilst being repeated, to fabulous dimensions.
But however this may be, whatever the explanation, it is quite certain
that if Miss Fancher has lived fourteen years without food, or even
fourteen months, or weeks, she is a unique psychological or pathological
individual, whose case is worthy of all the consideration which can be
given to it, not by superstitious or credulous or ignorant persons, but
by those who, trained in the proper methods of scientific research,
would know how to get the whole truth of her case, and nothing but the
truth. It is to be regretted, therefore, that the proposition contained
in the annexed letter (Appendix) was not accepted, and that we are
forced to place Miss Fancher's case among the others which have proved
to be fallacious, till such time as it may suit her and her friends to
allow of such an examination.
FOOTNOTES:
[15] Recherches experimentales sur l'inanition. Paris, 1843, p. 20.
[16] Universal Magazine, Vol. XXXVI, p. 250.
[17] Abridged Philosophical Transaction, Vol. III, p. 111.
[18] Traite de medecine legale et d'hygiene publique. Paris, 1813. t.
II, p. 285.
[19] Medical Gazette, Vol. XVII, p. 389.
[20] Des maladies mentales. Paris, 1838, p. 203.
[21] Du refus de manger chez les alienes. These de Paris 1864, p.
[22] Nouveau dictionnaire de medecine et de chirurgie pratiques. Paris,
1874. t. XVIII., Art. Inanition, p. 503.
[23] New York Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. II, p. 31.
[24] Quoted from Trans. of the Albany Institute by Dr. Lee in Copland's
Dictionary of Medicine. Vol. I, p. 31.
[25] Recherches experimentales sur les effets de l'abstinence. _Journal
de Physiologie_ de Magendie, t. VIII, p. 150.
[26] De l'anorexie hysterique. _Archives generales de medecine_, April
1875.
[27] Lecons sur les maladies du systeme nerveux, t. I., 2d edition.
Paris, 1876, p. 178.
APPENDIX.
The following letter embraces the proposition made to Miss Fancher, to
which allusion is made in the text:
TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD:--
I have read the letter of Professor Henry M. Parkhurst, published in
a recent issue of the HERALD, relative to the "mind reading" or
clairvoyance of Miss Mollie Fancher, of Brooklyn, and it does not
satisfy me that the young lady in question possesses any such power.
It would have been very easy for her to have opened the envelope
without disturbing the seal and to have read the contents. Now,
there has been a great deal of talk about Miss Fancher's case. I
have received just fifty-seven letters asking me to investigate it,
and the press has reiterated the invitation over and over again. I
have stated very explicitly that I regard the whole matter as a
humbug of the most decided kind, but I have never asserted the
impossibility of the young lady's alleged performances. On the
contrary, I hold nothing to be absolutely impossible outside the
domain of mathematics. But possibilities and realities are very
different things, and I certainly will not accept as true any such
phenomena as those asserted to have been associated with Miss
Fancher unless they are proven.
I have already declared my readiness to investigate Miss Fancher,
and, a few days since, in the _Sun_, proposed a test which will be
perfectly satisfactory to me and many others who, at present, are in
accordance with me in my estimation of this young lady. Permit me
now to state it definitely, specifically, and once for all. I will
place a certified check for a sum of money exceeding $1,000 inside
of a single paper envelope. I will lay the package on a table in the
room in which she is. If she chooses she may take it in her hands
and place it in contact with any part of her body. I will allow her
half an hour to describe the check. If she reads it--number, date,
on whom drawn, amount, signature, etc.--accurately, she may have the
check as her own property, or I will give the amount expressed in
the check, in her name to any charitable institution she may
designate, or otherwise dispose of it in accordance with her
wishes.
The only conditions I exact are these:--
_First_--That the experiment be conducted in my presence and in that
of two other physicians, members of the New York Neurological
Society, whom I will bring with me as witness simply, and who will
not interfere in any way with the test.
_Second_--That the envelope shall at no time pass out of our sight.
If Miss Fancher succeeds in this test I will admit that heretofore
in my denunciations of such performances as hers I have been in
error, and that there is a force in nature which ought to be
investigated. I will pay the money not only without chagrin, but
with great satisfaction, and will consider that I have received full
value.
If she fails, as I am quite sure she will, I shall not hesitate to
continue to denounce her as an imposition in this as well as in her
assumed abstinence from food.
A word further in regard to this last matter. I know something about
"fasting girls" and their frauds, not excepting the sad case of poor
little Sarah Jacob. But I will make this additional proposition:--If
Miss Fancher will allow herself to be watched, day and night, for
one month, by relays of members of the New York Neurological
Society, I will give her $1,000 if at the end of that month she has
not in the meantime taken food voluntarily or as a forced measure to
save her from dying of starvation, the danger of this last
contingency to be judged of by her family physician, Dr. Speir.
These offers to remain open for acceptance till twelve o'clock M.,
December 31st. If not taken up by that time, let us hear no more in
support of Miss Fancher's mind reading or clairvoyance, or living
for a dozen or more years without food.
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D.
_43 West Fifty-Fourth Street, New York, Dec. 12th, 1878._
Transcriber's Note:
Hyphenation and punctuation have been standardised. Variant
spellings have been retained. Minor typographical errors have been
corrected without note, whilst significant amendments have been
listed below:
p. 3, 'Nicholas' amended to _Nicolas_
p. 5, 'Aquaintoin' amended to _Aquitaine_
p. 5, 'predominent' amended to _predominant_
p. 6, 'Geraldus Bucoldianus' amended to _Gerardus Bucoldianus_
p. 7, 'f[oe]ces' amended to _faeces_
p. 7, 'developes' amended to _develops_
p. 7, fn. 4, '{Pasateseseon}' amended to _{Paratereseon}_
p. 7, fn. 4, added _rararum_: 'medicarum, _rararum_, novarum'
p. 7, fn. 4, 'monstrasarum' amended to _monstrosarum_
p. 8, '1567' amended to _1597_
p. 9, fn. 7, 'chirurgicae' amended to _chirurgicarum_
p. 15, 'Anne Jones' amended to _Ann Jones_
p. 16, 'f[oe]cal' amended to _faecal_
p. 26, 'f[oe]ces' amended to _faeces_
p. 31, 'Cardinal Carrafa' amended to _Cardinal Carafa_
p. 40, 'Farenheit' amended to _Fahrenheit_
p. 41, fn. 13, 'Rapport Medicale' amended to _Rapport Medical_
p. 41, fn. 13, added _de_: 'medecine _de_ Belgique'
p. 44, 'ecstacy' amended to _ecstasy_
p. 44, added _of_: 'direction _of_ M. le Cure'
p. 46, 'fecal' amended to _faecal_
p. 47, 'stigmatisations' amended to _stigmatizations_
p. 48, 'fortell' amended to _foretell_
p. 48, 'marvelous' amended to _marvellous_
p. 58, 'is' amended to _it_: 'that _it_ is stated'
p. 58, 'Dr. Spier' amended to _Dr. Speir_
p. 60, 'assimulated' amended to _assimilated_
p. 60, 'alchohol' amended to _alcohol_
p. 62, 'Bergemolletta' amended to _Bergemoletto_
p. 62, 'breath' amended to _breadth_
p. 62, 'Belguim' amended to _Belgium_
p. 63, fn. 18, 'medicine' amended to _medecine_
p. 64, 'palid' amended to _pallid_
p. 64, fn. 22, 'Nouvreau' amended to _Nouveau_
p. 64, fn. 22, 'medicine' amended to _medecine_
p. 67, 'messentery' amended to _mesentery_
p. 67, 'their' amended to _there_
p. 67, 'hemorrhage' amended to _haemorrhage_
p. 68, 'Chosset' amended to _Chossat_
p. 69, fn. 26, 'medicine' amended to _medecine_
p. 71, 'her's' amended to _hers_
p. 71, 'injestion' amended to _ingestion_
p. 76, 'Sarah Jacobs' amended to _Sarah Jacob_
p. 76, 'Dr. Spier' amended to _Dr. Speir_
The page reference in fn. 21 (p. 64) was omitted in the original text.
End of Project Gutenberg's Fasting Girls, by William Alexander Hammond