"Fasting Girls: Their Physiology and Pathology" by William A. Hammond is a late 19th-century study that seeks to explain the supposed ability of women to survive without food for long stretches of time. Hammond tackles public gullibility surrounding "fasting girls" by dissecting these cases using medical science and psychology. He argues that these supposed miracles are actually rooted in delusion and hysteria, fueled by a lack of critical thinking. Hammond connects historical accounts of fasting to underlying mental health struggles, suggesting that these claims reflect psychological issues rather than true physiological anomalies or supernatural feats, planning to investigate individual cases to show larger trends in the human mind and body.
Fasting Girls: Their Physiology and Pathology
By William A. (William Alexander) Hammond
Challenging the supposed miracles of women who claimed to live without food, this study uncovers a world of delusion, hysteria, and the alarming ease with which the public accepts the impossible as fact.
Summary
About the AuthorWilliam Alexander Hammond was an American military physician and neurologist. During the American Civil War he was the eleventh Surgeon General of the United States Army (1862–1864) and the founder of the Army Medical Museum.
William Alexander Hammond was an American military physician and neurologist. During the American Civil War he was the eleventh Surgeon General of the United States Army (1862–1864) and the founder of the Army Medical Museum.
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