however had not advanced a quarter of a mile, when she was forced to lie down under a hedge, having lost one of her shoes, and her clothes, which were very mean, were torn almost from her back with the brambles and thorns. In this place she lay from Monday evening, about six o'clock,until Sunday following, about four in the afternoon, when she was discovered by some persons living in the neighbourhood, who went out with poles, shovels, &c. in search of her: after some time spent in looking for her, she was found buried in four feet of snow, it being more than so much higher before the thaw; one of the men thrusting at her with his pole, cried out, "she was there;" and the rest advancing and opening the snow, one of the men said she was alive. She immediately spoke to them, and begged he would not poot her too hard (such was her expression) for she was almost naked, and she begged that some women would come to her and take her out, which was accordingly done: she had neither stockings nor shoes, and only an old whittle about her shoulders with a hole in it, which she had cut through; and to quench her thirst, she drank the snow which melted down over her. She was conveyed to the house of Mr. Bowdich, the author of this account, who ordered great care to be taken of her. She had a mortification in one of her toes, but afterwards recovered her strength and spirits: she was very sensible when first taken out, and knew every body perfectly well. Her tobacco and three-pence were in her pocket: she had no manner of food with her, neither bread nor any eatable what

ever.

25. We are told by Hasselquist, that gum-arabic is capable of supporting ani mal life for a considerable time: The Abyssinians," says he, "make a journey to Cairo every year to sell the products of their country, slaves, gold, elephants, drugs, monkies, parrots, &c. they must travel over terrible deserts; and their journey depends as much on the weather, as a voyage at sea; consequently they know as little as a seaman how long they must be on the journey, and the ne

This

eessaries of life may chance to fail them when the journey lasts too long. happened to the Abyssinian caravan in the year 1750, their provisions being consumed when they had still two months to travel. Necessity obliges us often to use things for food before unheard or unthought-of. This happened in the case in question they were obliged to search. for something amongst their merchandize, wherewith they might support life in this extremity, and found nothing more pro per than gum-arabic, of which they had carried a considerable quantity with them; this served to support above a thousand persons for two months.

Gum-arabic is gelatinous, and undoubtedly contains some nourishing par ticles. But here we may ask whether this food did not render these poor people very costive? It must in all probability have had this effect; but of this I could not learn any circumstances, I know how, ever that the caravan arrived safe at Cairo without any great loss of people, either by hunger or diseases.

26. Gilbert Jackson, son of James Jackson, feuar in Curse-Crange, Scotland, and Elizabeth Bell his spouse, be ing about fifteen years of age, fell sick and complained of pains all over his body, on the third of Feb. 1716, when the king's army was marching by their dwell ing-house from Perth to Dundee ; and to wards the end of the said month he was sei zed with a violent fever, in which he conti nued for three weeks and then recovered,

In the beginning of April following he fell again into a fever, in which he continued for the space of three weeks; and during that fever he had a shaking in his body, as if he had been paralytic.

Upon the 10th of June he fell into a violent fever again, when he became dumb, lost his appetite entirely and the use of his limbs, and continued without eating or drinking, though every means were used to make him do both. He re covered from this fever on the 17th of May 1717 but continued still dumb, without eating or drinking, or having the use of his limbs till the 10th of June the same year, when he was again seized with

门

an extraordinary fever, and next day recovered his speech, but continued in the fever without eating or drinking any thing, or having the use of his limbs, till the eleventh day of November following, when he recovered his health pretty well, and the strength of one of his legs: and thus he continued without eating or drinking, only washed his mouth sometimes with water; and always whenhe saw the rest of the family going to take any kind of food, the sight of it being altoge ther disagreable to him, he retired.

On the 10th of June 1718 he fell into a fever again, which continued till the beginning of September, when he recovered from the fever, but could not be induced to take any kind of meat or drink; and thus he continued in pretty good health and fresh-coloured, till the 9th of June 1719, when he was again seized with a severe fever; and upon the 10th, at night his father pressed him very much to take a little milk, boiled with oatmeal, which be at length agreed to, aud he took a spoonful of it, which stuck so long in his throat, that his parents thought he had been choaked and afterwards, he took so little food, that a halfpenny loaf, served him eight days. All the time he fasted he had no evacuation, and he did not get any benefit that way ill fourteen or fifteen days after he began to eat. After this he recovered his health pretty well, but still wanted the use of one of his limbs.

27. The following case of a man who lived eighteen years on water, by Robert Campbel of Kernan, was read be fore the Royal Society December the 9th 1742. John Ferguson, a native of the patish of Killmellfoord in Argyleshire, happened about eighteen years ago to overheat himself on the mountains in pursuit of cattle, and in that condition drank excessively of cold water from a rivulet near which he fell asleep. He awaked about twenty-four hours after, in a high fever, during the paroxysms of which his stomach could retain no aliment but water, or clarified whey; and this has continued to be the case ever since that

time. Whey however he uses only seldom, there being no such thing to be had by persons of his condition in that country, for many months in the year. Archibald Campbel, of Ineverliver, to whom this man's father is tenant, carried him to his own house, and locked him up in a chamber for twenty days, and supplied him himself with fresh water, in greater quantity per day than an ordinary man could use for common drink. At the same time he took particular care that it should not be possible for his guest to supply himself with any other kind of aliment without his knowledge; yet after that space of time he found no alteration in his countenance or strength. He is now about thirty-six years of age, of a middle stature, a fair and fresh complexion, and a healthy, though not seemingly robust constitution. His habit of body is meagre, but in no remarkable degree. He is commonly employed in looking after cattle, in consequence of which he is obliged to travel four or five miles a day in that mountainous country.

28. Some colliers working in a coalpit at Horstol, about half a league from Liege, one of them in February 1683-4 pierced a vein of water, which gushing in violently drowned one of them. Those who were near the mouth of the pit were drawn out; but four of them being farther within, saved themselves in a little ascent within the mine. Twentyfour days were spent in drawing off the water, and on the twenty-fifth they were drawn out. I saw and examined them myself," says the author of this account:

66

they had not a morsel of bread with them, but lived on the water of a little fountain, which broke out near them; two bottles of this water I caused to be evaporated, but nothing except a scarcely perceptible calx remaining."

29. To the above it may not be improper to add the following instances of animals which have existed a long time without food. Sir William Hamilton, in a letter to Sir Joseph Banks in the 73d vol of the Philosophical Tansactions, giving. an account of the earthquakes which hap

pened

pened in Italy between the months of February and May 1783, says, "I must mention a remarkable instance I met with of animals being able to live long without food, of which there have been many examples during these present earthquakes. At Soriano two fattened hogs that had remained buried under a heap of ruins were taken out alive on the forty-second day they were lean and weak, but soon recovered." Afterwards, in his description of the effects of the earthquakes at Messina, he says: "A curious circunstance happened here also to prove that animals can remain long alive without food: Two mules belonging to the duke de Belviso remained under a heap of ruins, one of them twenty-two days, and the other twentythree; they would not eat for some days, but drank water plentifully, and are now recovered. There are numberless instances of dogs remaining many days in the same situation; and a hen belonging to the British vice-consul at Messina, that had been closely shut up under the ruins of his house, was taken out on the twenty-second day, and is now recovered; it did not eat for some days, but drank freely; it was emaciated, and showed little signs of life at first. From these instances and those related before of the hogs of Sorian, and several others of the same kind, that have been related to me, one may conclude that long fasting is always attended with great thirst and total loss of appetite. "

A similar instance occurred some years ago in Derbyshire. During the heavy snow which fell on the night of the 7th of January 1776, a parcel of sheep belonging to Mr. John Wolley of Matlock, in that county, which were pastured on that part of the East Moor that lies within the manor of Matlock, were covered with the drifted snow. In the course of a day or two, all the sheep that were covered with the snow were found

again, except two, which were conse. quently given up as lost; but on thể 14th of February following, some time after the break of the snow in the valleys, and thirty-eight days after the fall, as a servant was walking over a large parcel of drifted snow, which remained on the declivity of a hill, a dog he had with him discovered one of the two sheep that been lost, by scenting it, through a small aperture, which the breath of the sheep had made in the snow. The servant upon this dug away the snow, and released the captive from its prison. It immediately ran to a neighbouring spring at which it drank for a considerable time, and afterwards rejoined its old companions, as though no such accident had befallen it. On inspecting the place where it was found, it appeared to have stood between two large stones, which lay parallel to each other, at about the distance of two feet and a half, and probably were the means of protecting it from the great weight of the snow, which in that place was several yards thick. From the number of stones around it, it did not appear that the sheep had been able to pick up any food during its confinement. Soon after, its owner removed it to some low lands; but as it had nearly lost its appetite, it was fed with bread and milk for some time. In about a fortnight after its enlargement it lost its sight and wool, but in a few weeks after they both returned again, and in the course of the following summer it was quite recovered. The remaining sheep was found dead about a week afer the discovery of the other.

30. A sheep, the property of Thomas Hall of Fourdray-house, was, March the 10th 1785, taken out of a pit in which it had been buried under the snow thirteen weeks and four days. It died soon after being exposed to the air, and was so much wasted for want of food, that the whole carcase weighed but eight pounds.

СНАР.

CHAP. XXII.

Of such as refused all Drink, or to taste of any liquid Thing; or else found no Need thereof.

LYSIMACHUS, king of Thrace, was shut up in a streight by king Dromichetes, in such manner that, for very extreme thirst, he was driven to yield himself and all his army to the mercy of his enemy. After he had drank, being now a prisoner, "Gods!" said he, " for how little a pleasure am I become a slave, who, but a while since, was a king." Had his constitution been like unto that of some of those which follow he had saved his kingdom and army; so might he also, if he had rested contentedly at home with the enjoyment of his own: but his ambitious thirst after sovereignty made him set upon a prince, who had given him no provocation: so his own thirst was apparently punished in that of another kind. But let us turn to such as had little or no acquaintance with thirst.

1. Pontanus writes, that in his time there was a woman, who in all her lifetime did never drink either wine or water; and that being once forced to drink wine by the command of Ladislaus, king of Naples, she received much hurt thereby.

2. Julius Viator, a gentleman of Rome, descended from the race of the Voconians, our allies, being fallen into a kind of dropsy between the skin and flesh during his minority and nonage, and forbidden by the physicians to drink, so accustomed himself to observe their direction, that naturally he could abide it; insomuch that all his old age, even to his dying day, he forbore to drink.

3. There was in the city of Naples one of the family of Tomacelli, who ne ver drank, says Cœlius.

4. Aristotle, in his book of drunkEnhess, writes of some that familiarly

eat of salt meats, and yet were never troubled with thirst in such manner as to have need to drink.

5. Mago the Carthaginian did three times travel over the vast and sandy dearts of Africa, where no water is to be met with, and yet all that time he fed upon dry bran, without taking any thing that was liquid.

6. Lasyrtas Lasionius did not stand in need of any drink,as the rest of mankind do, nevertheless he voided urine frequently as other men: many there were who would not believe this, till they had made trial thereof by curious observation: they staid with him thirty days in the heat of summer; they saw he abstained from no kind of salt meats, and yet drank not. It is true that this man drank at some times, but never had any need to do it.

7. A nobleman of Piedmont being sick of that kind of dropsy, sent for Dr. Albertus Roscius, who finding the dropsy confirmed, and the patient averse to all kind of remedies, he said thus to him: "Noble sir, if you will be cured, and perfectly freed of this mighty swelling, that is, if you desire to live, there is an absolute necessity that you determine with yourself to bear patiently that thirst wherewith you are so tormented: if you will do this, I hope to cure you in a short time." The nobleman, at the hearing of this, did so far command himself, that for a month he refrained not only from all kind of drink, but not so much as tasted of any thing that was liquid: by which means he was restored to his former health.

8. Abraames bishop of Carras, saith Theodoret, lived with that rigorous abstinence, that bread and water, bed and fire seemed superfluous to him. It is said of this great man, that he drank not, nor made use of water wherein to boil his herbs, or any other thing: but his manner was to feed upon endive and lettuce, and fruits, and such other things as were to him both meat and drink: and from these also he used to abstain till the

VOL, II.

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evening.