DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70301#0386
352
kirby’s wonderful museum.
About a year preceding this last date, her parents one day
returning from their country labours, (having left their daugh-
ter, as for some years before, fixed to her bed,) were greatly
surprised to find her sitting on her hams, on the side of the
house, opposite to her bed place, spinning with her mother’s
distaff. I asked whether she had ever eaten or drank ? whe-
thei' she had any of the natural evacuations ? spoke or at-
tempted to speak ? and was answered, that she sometimes
crumbled a bit of oat or barley cake in the palm of her hand,
as if to feed a chicken; that she put little crumbs of this into
the gap of her teeth, rolled them about for some time in her
mouth, and then sucked out of the palm of her hand a little
water, whey, or milk; and this once or twice a day, and even
that by compulsion; that the egesta were in proportion to the
ingesta ; that she never attempted to speak; that her jaws
were still fast locked, her hamstrings tight as before, and her
eyes shut. On my opening her eye-lids, I found the eye-
balls turned up under the edge of the os frontis, her counte-
nance ghastly, her complexion pale, her skin shrivelled and
dry, and her whole person rather emaciated; her pulse with
the utmost difficulty to be felt. She seemed sensible and
tractable in every thing, except in taking food; for, at my
request, she went through her different exercises, spinning on
the distaff, and crawling about on her hams, by the wall of
the house, with the help of her hand; but when she was de-
sired to eat she shewed the greatest reluctance, and indeed,
cried before she yielded; and this was no more than as I have
said, to take a few crumbs, as to feed a bird, and to suck half
a spoonful of milk from the palm of her hand. On the
whole, her existence was little less wonderful now than when
I first saw her, when she had not swallowed the smallest par-
ticle of food for years together. I attributed her thinness
and wan complexion, that is, the great change of her looks
from what I had first seen, when fixed to her bed, to her ex-
hausting too much of the saliva, by spinning flax on the dis-
kirby’s wonderful museum.
About a year preceding this last date, her parents one day
returning from their country labours, (having left their daugh-
ter, as for some years before, fixed to her bed,) were greatly
surprised to find her sitting on her hams, on the side of the
house, opposite to her bed place, spinning with her mother’s
distaff. I asked whether she had ever eaten or drank ? whe-
thei' she had any of the natural evacuations ? spoke or at-
tempted to speak ? and was answered, that she sometimes
crumbled a bit of oat or barley cake in the palm of her hand,
as if to feed a chicken; that she put little crumbs of this into
the gap of her teeth, rolled them about for some time in her
mouth, and then sucked out of the palm of her hand a little
water, whey, or milk; and this once or twice a day, and even
that by compulsion; that the egesta were in proportion to the
ingesta ; that she never attempted to speak; that her jaws
were still fast locked, her hamstrings tight as before, and her
eyes shut. On my opening her eye-lids, I found the eye-
balls turned up under the edge of the os frontis, her counte-
nance ghastly, her complexion pale, her skin shrivelled and
dry, and her whole person rather emaciated; her pulse with
the utmost difficulty to be felt. She seemed sensible and
tractable in every thing, except in taking food; for, at my
request, she went through her different exercises, spinning on
the distaff, and crawling about on her hams, by the wall of
the house, with the help of her hand; but when she was de-
sired to eat she shewed the greatest reluctance, and indeed,
cried before she yielded; and this was no more than as I have
said, to take a few crumbs, as to feed a bird, and to suck half
a spoonful of milk from the palm of her hand. On the
whole, her existence was little less wonderful now than when
I first saw her, when she had not swallowed the smallest par-
ticle of food for years together. I attributed her thinness
and wan complexion, that is, the great change of her looks
from what I had first seen, when fixed to her bed, to her ex-
hausting too much of the saliva, by spinning flax on the dis-