He lived on water until the day of his death.
Richardson gives an interesting account of the changes noticed at
the necropsy. There is an account of a religious mendicant of the
Jain caste who as a means of penance fasted for ninety-one days.
The previous year he had fasted eighty-six days. He had spent his
life in strict asceticism, and during his fasting he was always
engrossed in prayer.
Collins describes a maiden lady of eighty, always a moderate
eater, who was attacked by bronchitis, during which she took food
as usual. Two days after her recovery, without any known cause,
she refused all food and continued to do so for thirty-three
days, when she died. She was delirious throughout this fast and
slept daily seven or eight hours. As a rule, she drank about a
wineglassful of water each day and her urine was scanty and
almost of the consistency of her feces. There is a remarkable
case of a girl of seventeen who, suffering with typhoid fever
associated with engorgement of the abdomen and suppression of the
functions of assimilation, fasted for four months without visible
diminution in weight. Pierce reports the history of a woman of
twenty-six who fasted for three months and made an excellent
recovery.
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