Spiritualism
and
Allied Causes and Conditions
of
Nervous Derangement

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, etc.

"Ratio quasi quaedam lux lumenque vitae." - Cicero

New York
G. P. Putnam's Sons
182 Fifth Avenue
1876

CHAPTER XIV.

FASTING GIRLS.

ANOTHER remarkable class of deceptions occasionally induced by hysteria is that
embracing the "fasting girls " as they are called. They have existed for many years.
Görres gives a number of examples occurring among male and female saints and
other holy persons, but the records of profane history contain far more remarkable
instances. Some of these may appropriately be considered in the present chapter,
while others will find their proper place in that which follows. As "fasting girls " are a
kind of periodical phenomenon in our own day, I shall enter at some length into the
consideration of a few remarkable cases, and of the rationale of their existence.

Among these, 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 Geraldus Bucoldianus.* 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 mean time growing,
walking about, laughing, and talking like other children of her age. During the first
year, however. she suffered greatly from pains on 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* 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,* " the strangest that I have met with of this kind, is the

*" Wonders of the Little World." London, 1806, p. 375.

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 1567 (sic) 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,* physician to the King of France and to Cardinal Richelieu,

*    Opuscula Medica. Parislis, 1639, pp. 64, 65, 66.

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* and by Wanley. Anno Dom.,  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 Moslev. 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.*

* Wonderful Characters : By Henry Wilson and James Caulfield. London.

In a clinical lecture delivered at St. George's Hospital,* 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 inc 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. Fowlers* 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, living 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, Anne
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 bedfellow.

"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 neighbor 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 tile 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, super-veiling 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 he 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, saving 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.

The initial proceeding took place before a full bench of magistrates, and continued
eight days. The Crown and the accused had eminent counsel, and many witnesses
were examined. At the conclusion of the inquiry the presiding magistrate announced
that it had been determined by the court that no case had been made out against
the physicians, who had not been shown to  have undertaken any other duty than
that of advising the nurses, and that it did not appear that their advice had been
asked. As to the father and mother the court had decided to send them both for trial
for manslaughter, at the next assizes. In due time they were arraigned, they pleaded
not guilty, but after being defended by able counsel, the jury, after an absence of
about half an hour, returned with a verdict of guilty against both the prisoners, but
with a recommendation of the mother to the merciful consideration of the court, on
the ground that she was under the control of her husband. The man protested his
innocence, and the woman, buried her face in her shawl and wept bitterly."

His Lordship, in passing sentence, said: " Prisoners at the bar, you have been found
guilty of a most aggravated offence. I entirely concur with the verdict which the jury
have given, and I shall act upon the recommendation which they have presented in
favor of the female prisoner, the mother, though, I must say, that I cannot but feel
that it is a greater crime in the mother than the father, since it is more contrary to the
common nature of mothers, to neglect their children in the manner in womb you
have treated this unfortunate child. It is contrary to the nature, even, of a father. But
I shall act upon the recommendation of the jury, upon the ground they have put
forward, that you have been subject to the control of your husband more than has
appeared from the evidence of the case. But the offence is, as I have said, a serious
one, on this ground; that there can be no doubt that both of you have 
persisted in this fraudulent deception, upon your neighbors, and upon the public,
and that in order to carry out that fraudulent deception and to preserve yourselves
from detection you were willing to risk the life of that child. The life of that child has
been lost in that wicked experiment which you tried. Therefore, the sentence that I
shall inflict on you, Evan Jacob, is, .that you be imprisoned and kept at hard labor
for twelve calendar months; and that upon you, Hannah Jacob, will be more lenient
in consideration of the recommendation of the jury, and it is, that you be imprisoned
and kept to hard labor for the period of six calendar months."

Thus ended one of the most remarkable and interesting histories of human folly,
credulity, and criminality which the present day has produced. Comment upon its
teaching is scarcely necessary; but the thoughtful reader will not fail to perceive how
important a bearing it has upon the whole subject of belief without full and free
inquiry, and that how all the facts which science has gathered during ages of painful
labor, go for naught, even with educated persons, when brought face to face with
the false assertions of a hysterical girl, and of two ignorant and deceitful peasants. If
there is any one thing we know, it is that there can be no force without the
metamorphosis of matter of some kind. Here was a girl maintaining her weight
actually growing her animal heat kept at its due standard, her mind active, her heart
beating, her lungs respiring, her skin exhaling, her limbs moving whenever she
wished them to move, and all, as very many persons supposed, without the
ingestion of the material by which alone such things could be. And yet such is the
tendency of the average human mind to be deceived, that it would be perfectly
possible to re-enact in the city of New York the whole tragedy of Sarah Jacob,
should ever a hysterical girl take it into head to do so; and there would not be
wanting, even from among those who might read this history, individuals who would
credit any monstrous declarations she might make. Even now in a little town in
Belgium, an ecstatic girl is going through the same performance with extraordinary
additions, and books are written by learned physicians and theologians, with the
object of establishing the truth of her pretensions. To this most remarkable instance
the attention of the reader will presently be invited. But in view of these things one is
almost tempted to say with Cardinal Carrafa, "Quandoquidem populus decipi vult,
decipiatur."