Page:The Annual Register 1758.djvu/268

 254 ANNUAL R

her fight, her hearing, and her fpeech, was followed by fuch a ftricture of the mufclcs of her throat that fiie could not Avallow any kind of aliment, cither folid or liquid. It might realonably be fup- pofed that this circumftancc, though it added to the degree of her mifery, would have fhortened its duration; yet in this condition fhe continued near three quarters of a vear, and during that time was iup- ported, in a very uncommon man- ner, by chewing her food only, which having turned cffen, and kept long in her mouth, fhe was obliged at laft to fpit out. Liquors were likewife gargled about in her mouth for fome time, and then re- turned in the fame manner, no part of them having pafTed the throat by an act of deglutition : fo that whatever was conveyed into the flomach, either of the juices of the folid food, or of liquid?, was either gradually imbibed by the fpongi- nefs of the parts, which they moif- tened, or trickled down in a very fmall quantity along the fides of the veffels.

But there were other peculiari- ties in the cafe of this lady, yet more extraordinary. During the privation of htr Jight and hec.rmg, her /oz/f/^ and h.e.r /mell became-fo exquifite, that fhe could diRinguifh the diiferent colours of fi!k and flowers, and was fenfible when any ftranger was in the room with her.

After fhe became blind, and deaf, and dumb, it was not eafy to con- trive any method bywhich a queflion could be afked her, and an anfwer received. This however was at laft efFe<Eled,by talking with the fingers, at which flie was uncommonly ready. But thofe who converfed with her in this manner, were obli-

EG i STER, 1758.

ged toexprefs themfelves, by touch- ing her hand and fingers inllcad of •« their own. I

A lady who was nearly related to her, having an apron oq, that was embroidered with filk of different colours, afked her, in the m?nner which has juft been defcribed, if flie could tell what colour it was? and after applying her fingers at- tentively to the figures of thff embroidery, (he replied, that it was red, and blue, and green, which was true, but whether there were any other colours in the apron, the writer of this account does not re- member. The fame lady having a pink-coloured ribbon on her head, and being willing flill farther to fatisfy her curiofity and her doubts, aflced what colour that was ? her coufin, after feeling fome time, an- fwered that it was pink colour, this anfwer was yet more altonifhing, becaufe it fhewed not only a power of dillinguifhing different colours, but different kinds of the fame colour ; the ribbon was net only difcovered to be red, but the red was difcovered to be of the pale kind, called a pink.

This unhappy lady, confcious of her own uncommon infirmities, was extremely unwilling to be feen by flrangers, and therefore generally retired to her chamber, where none but thofe of the family were likely. to come. The fame relation, who had by the experiment of the apron and ribbon difcovered the exquifite fenfibility of her touch, was foon after convinced by an accident, that her power of fmelllng was acute and refined in the fame aftoniihing degree.

Being one day vifiting the fa- mily, fhe went up to her coufin's chamber, and after making herielf known, fhe inireated her to go

down.