Fasting Girls: Their Physiology and PathologyHammond, William A. (William Alexander)
History
Fasting Girls: Their Physiology and Pathology
Hammond, William A. (William Alexander)
Anorexia in children; Fasting; Medicine -- Case studies -- 1800-1900; Psychology, Pathological
Repeatedly they were begged to withdraw the nurses, and again and again
they refused, saying 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account