Horrifying Appetite of a Man Who Ate Everything
Charles Domery ate cats, candles, grass, and a whole lot of it.
In a state of utmost hunger, you might have said you would eat anything — you actually didn’t mean it. But Charles Domery did. He was a guy with the most extreme appetite in history.
This guy is known for eating anything — from small animals to comrade’s limb. Why was he the way he was? What made his appetite so dangerous? Let’s dive into his life story:
Domrey’s early life and signs of an oddity
Domery was a Polish-born in 1778. Having eight brothers with good appetites left less food for him at home. At 13, he joined the Prussian army, but meager rations were not sufficient for him.
His need made him go for a barter system — he exchanged himself for some food. The French commander accepted his surrender and, in return, gave him a melon, which in no time he devoured.
Realizing that the French possessed more food than the Prussian, Domrey allied with them and fought against the Prussians. Surprising the entire french army, Domery would gulp food for the whole day once sitting and then ask for more.
Despite getting double the food than an average soldier, Domery spent his entire salary to fill the unique needs of his stomach. Having consumed everything and when left with no option around, he used to eat 1.8 to 2.3 kg of grass per day.
If we talk about his favorite food, then it was raw bull’s liver — no matter where he got it from. Camping near Paris exposed his appetite to another weird interest — cats. He caught cats.
A French soldier who had served with him gave statements like:
“In one year, [he] devoured 174 cats, dead or alive. Sometimes he killed them before eating, but when very hungry, did not wait to perform this humane office.”
The horrifying incident in the French navy vessel
Interestingly, the level of his horrific hunger would change on each positive. When posted to a French navy vessel, he took another fascination to ease the noise of his stomach, which was even worse than consuming live cats.
Domery was on board the Hoche, and during its sail to Ireland’s coast, a squadron of Royal Navy attacked it. Upon getting fired with cannons by British ships, a French soldier got his leg blown off.
What was worse? It flew across the deck, meeting the sight of Domery. Grabbing the chance, Domery rushed to the leg and bit the chunks of it, leaving it only when another terrified soldier yanked the piece, throwing it in the sea.
Domery's appetite terrified England
Domery then turned into a medical oddity when Hoche got captured and was taken to England. He amazed the British captor with his appetite — just like the other individuals whom he had met in the past. Prisoners of war, during that time, were allotted the food based on the rations paid by their country.
Like any other prisoner, he received the standard food: 740 g of bread, 230 g of vegetables, and a small amount of butter or cheese. This amount, in no way, satisfied his legendary appetite. Thus, he begged the other imprisoned comrades for food.
Interestingly, seeing his unnatural hunger, the British gave him ten times more food than they gave to anyone else. That ten times increment remained insufficient as Domery resorted back to his practice of eating cats — with the addition of stray rodents in his cell.
Domery terrified the prison commandant to the extent that he had to contact the government for narrating such unusual behavior. Fascinated by Domrey’s actions, the government sent two doctors to conduct a few tests.
Doctors fascinating experimentation
It was a blessed day for Domrey. In the experimentations, the doctors fed Domrey several different varieties of foods throughout the day, keeping an eye for the reason behind such an abnormal hunger. They sought signs which could expose why he was always so hungry.
Domrey had gotten the heaven on Earth. On that day, at 4:00 AM, he was fed with some meat — 1.8 kg of raw cow’s udders. After around five hours, at 9 30 AM, the doctors returned and offered him another 2.3 kilograms of raw beef.
Noticing that Domery had consumed the prison candles in the past, the doctors gave him 453 g of tallow candles with a bottle of wine to ease the consumption.
Any sane person would not gulp down a kilogram of candles, and even if done so, one would simple vomit or feel sick, but this was Domery — not an average person. He showed no effects of any illness.
Doctors careful observation about Domery
The medical mystery deepened. Jotting down Domery’s behavior carefully in the form of notes, the doctors made few observations. Domrey used to sufficiently down at 8:00 PM for bed, but instead of immediately falling asleep, he spent the following two hours sweating heavily before finally sleeping at 10.
The moment he slept, his sweating would stop. His morning would start at 1 AM — a time when he would devour anything he could find. In the absence of food, Domrey would smoke and then again go back to sleep.
His natural sleep cycle would again force him to wake up at 5 or 6 — a time during which he would sweat heavily. His food search would stop the sweating process but restart again after any sort of food consumption.
Apart from Domery’s abnormal sweating, the doctor’s found nothing strange in his body. Weird enough, despite his gigantic diet, Domrey’s weight was perfectly healthy and normal — decent enough to conduct long army marches.
Why exactly was Charles Domery so hungry?
No doubt assail, he owned a medical abnormality. Doctors, owing to the limited technologies, could not understand his medical conditions. Such an abnormal condition was hard to diagnose, especially for someone who lived two centuries ago.
Today, there are few suggestions that he suffered from hyperthyroidism — thyroid hormone’s overproduction. This conclusion aligns with doctors’ findings in that era.
They analyzed him to be sweating profusely, having trouble sleeping, and eating senselessly without gaining weight — all of the hyperthyroidism’s symptoms.
But this theory is not accurate. Why? Well, even in the extreme cases of hyperthyroidism, an ordinary person can, in no way, consume kilos of grass, candles, or cats.
Interestingly, Domrey didn’t show all the symptoms of this medical condition: like owning a rapid heartbeat, having anxiety attacks, or experiencing mood swings. Science agrees that not all the requirements are necessary to get met, but still, it makes it an extremely odd case in the entire history.
Final words:
There is no closer diagnosis than hyperthyroidism for Domery. The guy doesn’t own an extensive historical record which makes him and his legendary appetite simply a mystery.
More from the author:
References:
https://crazypolishguy.com/2017/10/28/the-pole-who-would-eat-anything/
https://www.geriwalton.com/charles-domery-singular-glutton-wi/
