SIX MONTHS WITHOUT FOOD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6296, 21 January 1882, Page 7

SIX MONTHS WITHOUT FOOD.

Nearly six months have elapsed since we reported that the girl Christina Marshall had broken her long fast of eighteen weeks by taking a few teaspoontul? of beef-tea. She is still practically "fasting," having taken no solid food since May last. We have it on the most reliable authority that with the exception of a few weeks in May' and June—daring which she took from six to eight teaspoonfuls of beef-tea or milk daily—her diet has been wholly sugar or confections. Even of these she takes but little, not exceeding two ounces in any day, and sometimes not so much. Some time ago sugar was her sole food, but for the last eight weeks she has taken nothing but sweetmeats. It is not to be supposed that the parents of the girl are aiding or abetting her in this self-imposed abstinence from food ; indeed, all along they have been most urgent in their efforts to get her to eat, but without avail. Not long ago her father in vain tried to coax her to take a teaspoonful of wine. He then attempted to force the wine down her throat, and only succeeded in getting a few'drops through her clenched teeth at the expense of a fit of hysterical; crying which lasted for hours. It is no wonder, then, that the parents have at last given up further attempts in this_ direction. Strange to say, the girl is if anything rather better, certainly no worse, than what she was last spring. ' She .does, not complain so much of headache, and although seldom or ever speaking unless spoken to she is perfectly alive to everything that goes on in the room. The Rev. John Gavin, minister of the parish, is constant in his ministrations to the invalid, and he finds her tractable and intelligent. No one in the district doubts tho facts of the case, while the veracity of the parents disarms suspicion. ' It will be remembered that the first notice of the case appeared in the Glasgow Mail on April 25th. It was then stated, that Christina Marshall, a girl between 13 and 14 years, residing with her father at Chapelton, near Stratheven, had taken ill in the autumn of 18S0, and had been treated by Dr. Dougal, Stratheven, for pulmonary cold. She rallied a little, but when approaching convalescence she relapsed, betook herself to bed, and about Christmas declined all solid food. From that time up till the Bth of' May she subsisted solely on a few teaspoonfuls of water per diem. During this period she was attended by Dr.JDougal, Strathaven, who acknowledged his inability to do anything as long as the girl refused to take suitable nourishment. Finding persuasion of no avail, he finally told the girl that unless she took some beef-tea she would be sent to the Infirmary and that her father vvould be sent to prison. The threat of her being sent to the Infirmary had not th« least effect, but on hearing that her father would have to suffer she allowed her mother to feed her with a few teaspoonfuls of beef-tea. That was repeated for about a week, but the girl, as we have already stated, has relapsed into her former condition. The publication of the case created the liveliest interest throughout the United Kingdom, and at the request of the editor of the Lancet Dr. Dougal wrote an exhaustive report on the case for that journal. . Dr. Dougal also sent a history of the case to the British Medical Journal, in which he describes the whole particulars of the girl's history and gives a detailed account of her condition. In closing the record he says that he believes the honesty and integrity of the parents to be above suspicion. The girl is still practically fasting. For more than three months no food of any kind was given her; at the end of that long fast she was induced to take » little beef-tea, but only for a day or two, and since then the girl has lived by sucking 8 few "sweeties."—Glasgow Mail.