Fasting and Feeding

The widespread interest in the subject of this paper, excited by recent successful and unsuccessful attempts to sustain life under abnormal conditions, and the existence of a general desire for information respecting the history of similar efforts made in the past, have induced me to collect the narratives here brought together. No explanation need be offered of the apparent want of connection to be observed in the article, although as far as possible a definite sequence has been maintained. The literature of the subject is, indeed, most extensive, and this, in place of making the task of collating an easy one, has rather served to embarrass in the effort to present the most reliable experiences. It must not be supposed that all the stories here collected are to be received as trustworthy; many, indeed, bear the stamp of highly imaginative genius; but all possess more or less