rlier years
she had been healthy, was intelligent, given to religious reading, and
was said to have written poetry of her own composition. She was a very
pretty child and was, according to the testimony of the vicar, the Rev.
Evan Jones, a "good girl."

About February 15th, 1867, when she was not quite ten years of age, she
complained of pain in the pit of the stomach, and one morning on getting
up, she told her mother that she had found her mouth full of bloody
froth. The pain continued, and medical attendance was obtained. Soon
afterwards she had strong convulsions of an epileptiform character and
then other spasms of a clearly hysterical form, during which her body
was bent in the form of a bow as in tetanus, the head and heels only
touching the bed. Then the muscular spasm ceased and she fell at full
length on the bed. For a whole month she continued in a state of
unconsciousness, suffering from frequent repetitions of severe
convulsive attacks, during which time she took little food. Mr. Davies,
the surgeon, said in his evidence, that she was for a whole month, in a
kind of permanent fit, lying on her back, with rigidity of all the
muscles. For some time her life was despaired of, then her fits ceased
to be convulsive and consisted of short periods of loss of consciousness
with sudden awakings. For the next two or three months (till August,
1867) she took daily, from six, gradually decreasing to four, teacupfuls
of rice and milk, or oatmeal and milk, which according to her father's
account, was cast up again immediately and blood and froth with it.
During this time the bowels were only acted on once in six or nine days.
"Up to this time," said her father, "she could move both arms and one
leg, but the other leg was rigid."

By the beginning of October, 1867, her quantity of daily food had, it
was affirmed, dwindled down to nothing but a little apple about the size
of a pill, which she took from a tea-spoon. At this time she made water
about every other day; she looked very bad in the face, but was not
thin. On the tenth day of October, it was solemnly declared that she
ceased to take any food whatever, and so continued till the day of her
death, December 17th, 1869, a period of two years, two months, and one
week.

"Of the veracity of the assertion in respect of _the one week_," says
Dr. Fowler, "there is unfortunately plenty of evidence. To the absurdity
of believing in the barest possibility of twenty-six mont