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several weeks without, any— but the secretion of urine seemed 

 more regular. The voiding of this secretion was one of the last 

 acts of his life. 



After a lapse of fifty-three days, or nearly eight weeks, nature 

 became exhausted, and his spirit fled. His hopes continued 

 bright to the last, and he departed this life in the full expectation of 

 a glorious immortality. And it is not unreasonable to suppose, 

 from his unblemished life, and ardent piety, while in the possession 



be considered, that, in his last hope, he has not been disappointed. 



The body was examined by Dr. Johnson, the day after death. 

 The viscera did not exhibit any very striking mark of disease. The 

 stomach was not contracted as might have been expected— but 

 was loose and flabby. The gall bladder was distended with a dark, 

 muddy looking bile. The mesentery, stomach, and intestines, were 

 excessively thin and transparent— and there was no fat in the omen- 

 tum. It looked somewhat like the arachnoid membrane of the 

 brain. At the time of death Mr. Kelsey was 27 years of age. 



Such are the principal facts I have been able to gather respect- 

 ing the case of this excellent young man. I may however observe, 

 in conclusion, that, from a consideration of all the circumstances 

 of the case, from the known honesty of all the parties particularly 

 mentioned, and the concurring testimony of friends and neighbours, 

 there is not the smallest reason to suspect, that, in the case, the 

 least deception has been attempted, either by the unfortunate in- 



How colld life havf been so long protracted under such circum- 

 stances 1 It is not perhaps possible in the present state of our 

 knowledge to answer this question in a satisfactory manner. It is 

 not usually supposed that water alone affords any nourishment, at 

 least to the higher animals ; but this opinion is incorrect. Water 

 is an ingredient in almost every one of the animal tissues, and a 

 supply of it is as essentially necessary for the preservation of life as 

 that of solid aliment. Plants, it is well known, require little more 

 than air and water to live and grow, to a large size ; the same is the 

 case with many kinds of fish. It is therefore likely that air and 

 water contribute materially towards nutrition, even in the human 

 species. But these are not sufficient of themselves, to support life 

 for any great length of time, when ail the functions are vigorously 

 performed. But when they are feebly performed, the wheels of 



