LIVING ON NOTHING.

Bush Advocate, Volume V, Issue 354, 16 August 1890, Page 6

LIVING ON NOTHING.

(daily news.) Stgnor Succi haa finished hia fast, and medical science stands just where it stood before. He has proved that a man can live for forty days on nothing 1 and water with a little drop oi something from a bottle of elixir to flavour the meal. But that was already known. Dr. Tanner proved it without tho elixir, so we believe did the Signor'B , countryman HV*rlatti f who f anted in Paris foF , fifty days. The Signor himself has previously abstained frum nourishment for thirty days. Ho has lost nearly two stone and ■ a half ; but as ho ha«, no doubt, had a share , of the gate money, wo may be permitted to hope that he has gained ia other respects> Ho has been living on his fat, hia muscle, and even hU bones, and has retired victorious ' from the contest just in time to save his last 1 reserved of tho nervous system. Such, acj cording to ft writer ia tho May number of the [ Keto Review, ia'the order In which the body is ' consumed by abstinence. The body, like a , steam engine, neoda fuel ; but, unliko the steam engine^ it oan feed tho fire on its , own vitals. Sigaot Succi had 60 mia-h > fuel in hand on the fortieth day that be could afford to prolong his fast for an 1 hour or two in order to take kis first 5 .spoonful of .bouillon on tho stago. Thin, it. , : appears, Ja tet« wonderful than it seems. Mri \ Eotpon Pvooap will teil aa of faatere who, t ■wii^iout liquor, if not exactly without liqaid 8 3 . hayo beaten Signar Sacoi by nearly htdf ea i rauoh a^ifl- A mtuxlerer at Toulouse ab-; ■ stained from food for sixtyvthree days, until ) death 1 froai stai'vatioa saved him from tiw I. executioner. Tho anttiorities must hflve. been intercated in {fee exporinwmt, or why 1 did they defer tfco exeoution ? Aa \ old lady who epmmitted suicide in the * sarao way held bio* for about fifty dap. What w«s'thfl.-4«rat4cm of tUo Knssian famine strikes? Pteehttps only tJm Ctear 1 knows. Dr. sTaoncar tried to do wJfchottfc [i • water, bnfc lw was oompeiled r to giTe way on : tlvat poioty and he Sound it 80 noarishing. that it gayo him an almost immediate inarease ■ in weight. He was like the'adrse in the j anecdote, ho^rever> for he died not very long . after be had learned to livo without food. 1 , They aro ail surj^acßed by a pig— buried ia Its aty for ICO days by tho fall of a cliff, and dug oufc alivo at th?e enad of that timo with a lo^ of 75 per oent. in weight. Thus ia fasting, as m most other things in life, a share of the gate money bears no direct relation to tho beat results. Quiet of body aad mind is said to be an important cOadifoou of endurance in trials of this sort, Labour and woi-ry lowers weight and takes its own t«H of every grain of food that eaters the body. Signer Sueci's receptions muathave considerably increased tho severity of his trial. Ho had to talk, tind' what appears te have been sometiinps worse— 'to listen. He Mgnedbiographlesand photographs all day on Friday, and could baixflr keep paoo with tho demand. CompetifiTo fasting men irritated him by ill-timed challenges. Greedy men tried to make hia mo»th water by describing then last meals. Somo of those with whom he is put into competition by tho medical records enjoyed tho unfair advantage of perfect reposes lieu imprlfft-ied in mines hnve lived for long 1 periods, but the qniet as well as the dampness and warmth of tho mines have told in their favour. In n» known cikso of this sort, howoYer, have thoy survived for forty day's. Indian fakirs have been moro successful, and after lying in closed vnulte for teruis exceeding Signor Super's i havo been restorod, though from a condition ia almost every way resembling deut/h. They had tho look of coxpss-*, and eecmed 1 without pulsation ia heart or artery. Tho Closed vaults prsvOntod the loss of heat, tn tho«© oases, however^ tho practitioners ; probably inoladod tho power of inducing 1 catalepsy at wIH aiaong tho seoreta o-f tlieir trade. Tii© wondar of wonders is that they managed to 11 to wi&uout water. That, as a rulo, is tho mstu«raotMitable difSo-ulty. Yon may buru yourself np slowly enough iv fat, ruasde, blood, ferafca, aad heart, if only you ; keep tJto protopLwsH of the fci*3u<» Jwell i damped d^wn. Alter Signor Sjafisi's example Ug>olmo ougbt to feel ashamed ©f himself. Ho began to-j soon, E-ut us Saoci himself bus b9en oatdoue by 90Qie men, so all moa are outdone by somo auisnals. Tha hiberuataw know of periods of abwieatioa beside wbioh Sdgnor Bucoi's would seem bnfc as a moment. The bronao gold beefcla again,, which wus eam«l about us a brooch, some yoara ago, by a lady iv London sooiety, would have regarded theae foity days ay less than his infcarval bshveea breakfegt aud luach. That wondorful emifcute, ono of a few that aa-o to bo hod for lore or money iv Seufch Ainerieu, was Tnaumted with a ftua gold ! chadu fastened round his vraU% wliiiJi ia itself uhouo like a pieoa of exqniaito old gold enamel. He seemed always in the , hibemuting coaditioa — «fc loaat in our oii.iKite, and his movements were itsually imperceptible us those of a serpent. Ho was chained aip n-oar hts owner's nock in the morning, aal he wtvs genorally found near tho same pla<:o at alght, having feuken bnfc alight adva«ta«fo of tho length of hia tetlter. He might yome«moß bo seou to move — with aji oftcuit of delighted ouriosuty wiiiish liold wholo driiwiug-itwms in a s<ato o£ uiiriuonded. a»i»iuUou. Ho lived on inching wi4,l)-out tiw water. There woro mouths and montlis during which he h-.id no rn-lion. At times ho wiw under* stood to be meditating the propriety of absorbing a Kttlo brown sugar, but ifc was usually brushed off the tabio before he oottld malro up hLs mi« 4. It would have beea difficult to kill hha of starvation, but he aneotttnbed, w-ithaat making the alightcst ftiss about it, to »m* tatiu^oly nip. PorW},-w it woukl be as woll to loavo utwtancuoa to the aniuMils, siru>e they undoretaud it ao much better tiiao ou ] «d>o9> Tttore ia lifetio to bo miid o-f 3iijn«r Su^o^a achievomeflt, oxeopt tkat wo hopo ho niado ifc pny. If thoro is a moral to ifc, it is foe t-ho West oud rather th-im the Esut. Somo people in this (ji-Ofit crity must regiird experiinoutw in siavvatiou ah matters hiv beyond v joko. To othoiH, Signer Sueci's oxumplfl may bo eomaioaded as a new royal road to health. Sic Horny Thompson and otlier emiueut 6p<-oialt«ts constantly assure xm that wo oat too mcwii. Signor Sucoi confirms tliona by showing hoir lilllo we may eat nud yet li?e. An owmaioual fust would do us far moro frood than drugs »r e«en oxerwiso. Id waa Nai>ole»a's favourite remedy. It is bow a woU-eatnbliahed modioal truth that most people in fairly ea»y c.lrxmm»tewiees eiit far too «fkja. They era *^fc oomioious of it ; iixoy uvxiAy do what they conecivo to bo their duty ut bi'&svkfH.Nt, ltuioheon, and dinner. Tot they load tJ»e oppwjssed syateift with nutriment whl«h to cannot possibly absorb &i<£cor Suooi ought to set up as a pliysiaiun soar us po«dblo to tho Mausion-hoits©^ and far solo prtsewption invite his patkmte to dino with him, *J»rc su», ouce a week.