DEATH BY STARVATION.
That a living animal body cannot long survive without the ingestion of alimentary matter, is too self-evident to require demonstration. Living bodies, says Cuvier, may be considered as a kind of furnaces into which inert substances are successively thrown, which combine among themselves in various manners, maintain a certain place, and perform an action determined by the nature of the combinations they have formed, and at last fly off in order to become again subject to the laws of inanimate nature.
It must, however, be observed, that there is a difference, depending on age and health, in the proportion of the parts which enter into the current, and those which abandon it; and that the velocity of the motion usually varies according to the different conditions of each living body; hence it follows, that the period during which an individual may exist without food, will be liable to variation. We have already stated (page [394]) that, cæteris paribus, he will perish from inanition with a rapidity proportioned to his youth, and state of robust vigour; and we remarked in what strict conformity with physiological principles the poet Dante had described the fate of Ugolino and his family.[[58]] The same fact appears also to have been well understood by the ancient physicians;[[59]] equally evident is it that women are able to support abstinence longer than men. It has been also observed that a moist atmosphere contributes to the protraction of life, under circumstances of privation; this may depend, not only upon the fluid matter thus furnished to the body, but upon the non-conducting power of the medium, in relation to aqueous vapour; the ingestion of a very small proportion of water revives in an extraordinary degree, the animal perishing from famine, and prolongs his existence. Redi[[60]] instituted a series of experiments with the sole view of ascertaining how long animals can live without food. Of a number of capons which he kept without either solid or liquid food, not one survived the ninth day; but one to which he allowed water, drank it with avidity, and did not perish until the twentieth day. Elizabeth Woodcock, who was buried under the snow, near Cambridge, for the space of eight days, undoubtedly owed her preservation to the snow which she occasionally sucked.[[61]]
Those cases of extraordinary fasting, which are recorded in the different Transactions and Journals of almost every country, are to be generally regarded as gross impositions; we[[62]] have already exposed the fallacy of several of the more popular histories of this kind. Such impostors, however, in their attempt to delude the world, have unintentionally offered themselves as the voluntary victims of physiological experiment; for we have at least learnt from them how small a portion of aliment is sufficient to preserve the life of a human being; a fact which had never before been satisfactorily proved, however probable it had been rendered, by the recorded habits of many of the early Christians, especially those of the East, who retired from persecution into the deserts of Arabia and Egypt.
The sufferings of a person perishing from inanition[[63]] must be considered as the most acute that can befall humanity; and yet we have instances on record of their having been voluntarily encountered as the means of suicide; a very interesting and well-authenticated instance of this kind has been related as having occurred in Corsica;[[64]] and, as it is calculated to afford, at once, a history of the symptoms of Starvation, and an exemplification of their severity, we shall introduce a brief account of the case in this place. Luc Antoine Viterbi was condemned to death as an accomplice in the assassination of Frediani, a crime which he denied to the last moment, and appealed against a sentence passed upon him by a Court composed of his personal enemies. Towards the end of November, Viterbi (knowing his condemnation, and being confined in the prison of Bastia), resolved to die. To effect his purpose, he abstained from food for three days, and then ate voraciously, and to a forced excess, in the hope that, after fasting so long, he should thereby put an end to his existence; in this however he was deceived, and, on the second of December, he determined to starve himself to death; from that day nothing could shake his awful resolution, although he did not expire until the night of the 21st of that month. During the three first days, Viterbi felt himself progressively tormented by hunger; under these circumstances a report was made to the public minister, who ordered bread, water, wine, and soup to be taken daily to his cell, and placed conspicuously in view. No debility was manifested during these three days, no irregular muscular movement was remarked, his ideas continued sound, and he wrote with his usual facility, but took no nourishment.
From the 5th to the 6th, to hunger insensibly succeeded the much more grievous suffering of thirst, which became so acute, that on the 6th, without ever deviating from his resolution, he began to moisten his lips and mouth occasionally, and to gargle with a few drops of water, to relieve the burning pain in his throat; but he let nothing pass the organs of deglutition, being desirous not to assuage the most insupportable cravings, but to mitigate a pain which might have shaken his resolution. On the 6th, his physical powers were a little weakened; his voice was nevertheless still sonorous, pulsation regular, and a natural heat equally extended over his whole frame. From the 3d to the 6th, he had continued to write; at night several hours of tranquil sleep seemed to suspend the progress of his sufferings, no change was observable in his mental faculties, and he complained of no local pain. Until the 10th, the thirst became more and more insupportable; Viterbi merely continued to gargle, without once swallowing a single drop of water; but in the course of the 10th, overcome by excess of pain, he seized the jug of water, which was near him, and drank immoderately. During the last three days, debility had made sensible progress, his voice became feeble, pulsation had declined, and the extremities were cold. Viterbi, however, continued to write; and sleep, each night, still afforded him several hours ease.
From the 10th to the 12th the symptoms made a slight progress. The constancy of Viterbi never yielded an instant; he dictated his journal, and afterwards approved and signed what had been thus written agreeably to his dictation. During the night of the 12th, the symptoms assumed a more decided character, debility was extreme, pulsation scarcely sensible, his voice extraordinarily feeble, the cold had extended itself all over the body, and the pangs of thirst were more acute than ever. On the 13th the unhappy man thinking himself at the point of death, again seized the jug of water, and drank twice, after which the cold became more severe; and congratulating himself that death was nigh, he stretched his body on the bed, and said to the gendarmes who were guarding him, “Look how well I have laid myself out.” At the expiration of a quarter of an hour, he asked for some brandy; the keeper not having any, he called for some wine, of which he took four spoonsful; when he had swallowed these the cold suddenly ceased, heat returned, and Viterbi enjoyed a sleep of four hours. On awaking (on the morning of the 13th) and finding his powers restored, he fell into a rage with the keeper, protesting that they had deceived him, and then began beating his head violently against the wall of his prison, and would inevitably have killed himself, had he not been prevented by the gendarmes. During the two following days he resisted his inclination to drink, but continued to gargle occasionally with water; during the two nights he suffered a little from exhaustion, but in the morning found himself rather relieved. It was then that he penned some stanzas. On the 16th, at five o’clock in the morning, his powers were almost annihilated, pulsation could hardly be felt, and his voice was almost inaudible; his body was benumbed with cold, and it was thought that he was on the point of expiring. At ten o’clock he began to feel better, pulsation was more sensible, his voice strengthened, and, finally, heat again extended over his frame, and in this state he continued during the whole of the 17th. From the latter day until the 20th, Viterbi only became more inexorable in his resolution to die. During the 19th, the pangs of hunger and thirst appeared more grievous than ever; so insufferable, indeed, were they, that for the first time, Viterbi let a few tears escape him; but his invincible mind instantly spurned this human tribute. For a moment he seemed to have resumed his wonted energy, and said, in the presence of his guards, and the gaoler, “I will persist, whatever may be the consequence; my mind shall be stronger than my body; my strength of mind does not vary, that of my body daily becomes weaker.” A little after this energetic expression, an icy coldness again assailed his body, the shiverings were frequent and dreadful, and his loins, in particular, were seized with a stone-like coldness, which extended itself down his thighs. During the 19th a slight pain at intervals affected his heart, and for the first time, he felt a ringing sensation in his ears; at noon, on this day, his head became heavy; his sight, however, was perfect, and he conversed almost as usual, making some signs with his hands.
On the 20th, Viterbi declared to the gaoler and physician, that he would not again moisten his mouth; and feeling the approach of death he stretched himself, asking, as on a former occasion, whether he was well out, and added, “I am prepared to leave this world.” Death did not this time betray his hopes. On the 21st Viterbi was no more.
In this interesting history, we receive a faithful account of the physical effects of starvation upon a human being, and perceive how greatly a very inconsiderable portion of liquid is capable of producing an invigorating effect upon the body, when in a state of extreme inanition; but the mind of the subject before us was stern and invincible, inflexibly bent upon self destruction; and we therefore do not perceive the developement of those moral effects, which in other cases are the general consequences of starvation. The histories of besieged towns[[65]] would afford us ample evidence upon this subject; and would shew that famine destroys all the most powerful instincts of our nature. We know not, however, a more awful illustration of this fact than that furnished by the account of the wreck of the Méduse,[[66]] and its appalling consequences; it appears that this frigate struck on the bank of Arguin, and as all attempts to save her were fruitless, nothing remained but to concert immediate measures for the escape of the passengers and crew; five boats were accordingly got in readiness, and a raft, destined to carry the greatest number of people, was hastily constructed; biscuit, wine, and fresh water were also apportioned to each; but in the tumult of abandoning the wreck, it so happened that the raft had the least share of the provisions, and in which there was not a single barrel of biscuit. This raft, containing no less than one hundred and fifty souls, was to have been towed by the boats, with which it was connected by ropes; but the adventurers had not proceeded far, when the boats cast off, and cruelly abandoned the raft to the mercy of the ocean; to the scene which ensued it is impossible for any language, however florid, to do adequate justice. Despair, aided by the pangs of hunger, soon excited a mutiny; a dreadful slaughter ensued, and the flesh of their murdered comrades afforded to the survivors a short respite from the immediate sufferings of famine.