ELIZABETH WOODCOCK. 19 bark, and three grains of He opened the vefications ufe of brandy as at first; the time of her being loft she had eaten only fnow, and be lieved the had not flept till Friday the 8th; her only evacuation was a little water. The hurry of fpirits, occafioned by too many vifitors, rendered her feverish; and her feet were found to be completely mortified, from being froftbitten before the was covered with fnow. She was fo difturbed with company that Mr. O. had little hope of her recovery. He ordered a clyfter of mutton broth, which greatly relieved her, fome faline mixture, with antimonial wine and strong decoction of opium in the courfe of a day. on her feet, and continued the clyfters, opium, and bark, being continued, with port wine. The cold had extended its violent effects from the end of the toes to the middle of the inftep, including more than an inch above the heels, and all the bottom of the feet, which were mortified, and were poulticed with ftale beer and oatmeal boiled together. Inward cold, as the called it, affected her, and the defired the cataplafms might be renewed as often as possible, and very warm. The 19th and 20th she was seized with violent diarrhoea, which occafioned great weaknefs; and, two days after, feveral toes were so loose as to be removed by the fciffars. The 23d she was taken up without fainting. All the toes were removed, and the integuments from the bottom of one foot, except a piece at the heel, which was fo long ere it loosened itfelf, that the os calcis and tendo Achillis had fuffered. The floughs on the other foot were thrown off more flowly, and two of the toes removed. All but one great tee was removed by the 17th; and, on removing the floughs from the heels, the bone was bare in many places; and, wherever the mortification had taken place, was one large fore, very tender. The fores were much diminished, and the great toe taken off, by the end of March, and an unufual fleepinefs came on. By April 17 the fores were free from from flough, and daily leffened; her appetite tolerably good, and her general health began to amend; but, with all these circumstances in her favour, fhe felt herself to be very uncomfortable; and, in fact, her profpect was most miserable. For, though her life was faved, the mutilated state in which he was left, without even a chance of ever being able to attend to the duties of her family, was almost worse than death itself; for, from the exposure of the os calcis, in all probability it would have required fome months be-fore the bottoms of her feet could be covered with new skin; and, after all, they would have been fo tender as not to bear any preffure: the lofs too of all her toes mult have made it impoffible for her to move herself but with the af- . fiftance of crutches. Mr. Okes afcribes the preservation of her life to her not having slept or had any evacuations under the fnow, and to her refignation and the calm state of her mind. She clofed a lingering existence July 13, 1799.We are forry to add, that too free indulgence of fpirituous liquors is fupposed to have been the cause both of the extraordinary accident and its fatal consequences. A Singular Account of CHARLES DOMERY, the most Extraordinary Raw-Flesh Eater, and voracious Devourer of Dogs, Rats, Cats, Candles, &c. In a Letter from Dr. JOHNSTON, of Somerset Place, Commifioner of Sick and Wounded Seamen, to Dr. BLANE. MY DEAR SIR, Somerfet Place, Oct. 28, 1799. AVING in Auguft and September laft been engaged in a tour of public duty, for the purpose of selecting from among the prisoners of war fuch men as, from their infirmities, were fit objects for being released without equivalent, I heard, upon my arrival at Liverpool, an account of one of these prifoners being endowed with an appetite and digestion fo far beyond any thing that had ever occur red red to me, either in my observation, reading, or by report, that I was defirous of afcertaining the particulars of it by ocular proof, or undeniable testimony. Dr. Cochrane, Fellow of the College of Phyficians at Edinburgh, and our Medical Agent at Liverpool, is fortunately a gentleman' upon whofe fidelity and accuracy I could perfectly depend; and I requested him to inftitute an enquiry upon this fubject during my stay at that place. I inclofe you an attested copy of the refult of this; and as it may probably appear to you,' as it does to me, a document containing facts extremely interefting, both in a natural and medical view, I will beg you to procure its infertion in fome refpectable periodi cal work. Some farther points of enquiry concerning this extraordinary person having occurred to me fince my arrival in town, I fent them in the form of queries to Dr. Cochrane, who has obligingly returned fatisfactory answers. Thefe I send along with the above-mentioned attefted ftatement, to which I beg you to fubjoin fuch reflections as may occur to you on this fubject. I am, my dear Sir, Your moft obedient humble fervant, To Gilbert Blane, M. D. F. R. S. and one of the CHARLES DOMERY, a native of Benche, on the frontiers of Poland, aged 21, was brought to the prifon of Liverpool in February 1799, having been a foldier in the French fervice on board the Hoche, captured by the fquadron under the command of Sir J. B. Warren, off Ireland. He is one of nine brothers, who, with their father, have been remarkable for the voracioufnels of their appetites. VOL. I. No. 1. D They They were all placed early in the army; and the peculiar craving for food with this young man began at thirteer years of age. He was allowed two rations in the army, and by his earnings, or the indulgence of his comrades, procured an additional fupply. When in the camp, if bread or meat were fcarce, he made up the deficiency, by eating four or five pounds of grafs daily; and in one year devoured 174 cats (not their skins) dead or alive; and fays, he had several severe ̧ conflicts in the act of destroying them, by feeling the effects of their torments on his face and hands: fometimes he killed them before eating, but when very hungry, did not. wait to perform this humane office. Dogs and rats equally fuffered from his merciless jaws; and if much pinched by famine, the entrails of animals indifcriminately became his prey. The above facts are attefted by Picard, a refpectable man, who was his comrade in the fame regiment on board the Hoche, and is now prefent; and who affures me he has often feen him feed on thofe animals. When the ship on board of which he was had furrendered, after an obftinate action, finding himself, as usual, hungry, and nothing elfe in his way but a man's leg, which was fhot off, lying before him, he attacked it greedily, and was feeding heartily, when a failor fnatched it from him, and threw it overboard. Since he came to this prifon, he has eat one dead cat, and about twenty rats. But what he delights moft in is raw meat, beef or mutton, of which, though plentifully fupplied by cating the rations of ten men daily, he complains he has not the fame quantity, nor indulged in eating fo much as he ufed to do, when in France. The French prifoners of war were at this time maintained at the ex pence pence of their own nation, and were each allowed the following daily ration:-Twenty-fix ounces of bread, half à pound of greens, two ounces of butter, or fix ounces of cheese. He often devours a bullock's liver raw, three pounds of candles, and a few pounds of raw beef, in one day, without tafting bread or vegetables, washing it down with water, if his allowance of beer is expended. His fubfiftence at prefent, independent of his own rations, arifes from the generofity of the prisoners, who give him a fhare of their allowance. Nor is his ftomach confined to meat; for when in the hofpital, where fome of the patients refused to take their medicines, Domery had no objection to perform this for them; his ftomach never rejected any thing, as he never vomits, whatever be the contents, or however large. Wishing fairly to try how much he actually could eat in one day; on the 17th of September 1799, at four o'clock in the morning he breakfasted on four pounds of raw cow's udder; at half past nine, in presence of Dr. Johnston, Commiffioner of Sick and Wounded Seamen, Admiral Child and his fon, Mr. Fofter, Agent for Prifoners, and several refpectable gentlemen, he exhibited his power as follows:There was fet before him five pounds of raw beef, and twelve tallow candles of a pound weight, and one bottle of porter; these he finished by half paft ten o'clock. At one o'clock there was again put before him five pounds of beef and one pound of candles, with three bottles of porter; at which time he was locked up in the room, and fentries placed at the windows to prevent his throwing away any of his provifions. At two o'clock, when I again faw him with two friends, he had nearly finished the whole of the candles, and a great part of the beef, but had neither evacuation by vomiting, ftool, or urine; his fkin was cool and pulfe regular, and in good fpirits. At a quarter past |