A FORTY DAYS’ FAST.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 475, 28 May 1890, Page 4

A FORTY DAYS’ FAST.

AN ITALIAN’S SUCCESS IN LONDON. Giovanni Succi, the little Italian who has been fasting for forty days at the Aquarium, took his first meal on April _26th, consisting of a spoonful of bouillon, in the presence of a great crowd of spectators. He was not a pleasing spectacle, though his physical condition is wonderful, in view of the circumstance that he has subsisted entirely upon water for forty days. He has been very closely watched night and day by two committees of physicians from Westminster Hospital, who are positive that he has consumed nothing but water during the forty days, with the exception of a little elixir, containing no nutriment, to allay abdominal pains. Succi lost thirty pounds during his fast, but though the skin upon his forehead is like wrinkled parchment and hiß cheeks fall in between his high cheekbones and lower jaw, and the lines of his face are drawn down and haggard, he walks firmly and his muscular grip is as strong as it was six weeks ago. At the conclusion of the fast his temDerature was normal, 97’6 degrees Fahrenheit, pulse 58, respiration 18 and lung capacity 14 - 50 cubic centimetres. His weight was ninety-three pounds and four ounces. He has maintained almost evenly from first to last his normal temperatnre. The temperature of his body at starting, on March 19th, was 98’6 degrees Fahrenheit. It was reduced to 98 degrees at the end of that month, after which it remained about 97’4 degrees. His pulse began at 92, fell on the second day to 76, rose on the third to 82 and fell to 53 on March 20th. Since then it has oscillated between 53 and 62. His lung capacity began at 2,000 cubic centimetres and in a week had dropped to 1,500. His height before the fast was 5 feet 5 inches. It is now 5 feet 4 inches, a loss of one inch, due mainly to the shrinkage of the cartilages between the vertebra of the spine. People who saw Dr. Tanner at the conclusion of his forty days’ fast say that Succi has come out of the test in 100 per cent, better condition than the American faster. The Italian has fasted several times for twenty and thirty days, but never before for so long as forty days, and he has consumed between a pint and a pint and half of water per day.