A well known case, is that of Col. Townshend, who possessed the
remarkable faculty of stopping at will not only his respiration, but
also the beating of his heart. He performed the experiment one day in
the presence of Surgeon Gosch, who cared for him in his old age, two
physicians, and his apothecary, Mr. Shrine. In their presence, says
Gosch, the Colonel lay upon his back, Dr. Cheyne watched his pulse, Dr.
Baynard put his hand upon his heart, and Mr. Shrine held a mirror to
his mouth. After a few seconds no pulse, movement of the heart, or
respiration could be observed. At the end of half an hour, as the
spectators were beginning to get frightened, they observed the functions
progressively resuming their course, and the Colonel came back to life.
The fakirs of India habituate themselves to abstinence from air, either
by introducing into the nostrils strings that come out through the
mouth, or by dwelling in subterranean cells that air and light never
enter except through narrow crevices that are sometimes filled with
clay. Here they remain seated in profound silence, for hours at a time,
without any other motion than that of the fingers as the latter slowly
take beads from a chaplet, the mind absorbed by the mental pronunciation
of OM (the holy triune name), which they must repeat incessantly while
endeavoring to breathe as little as possible.
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