Abraham Lincoln's death revisited

[scotrace]

Those lips were the same at 56 as at 46. Same for the jaw, et al.

He was constipated because he ate very little during the enormous pressures of the war. He also lost weight for the same reason. In the last moths of his life, he impressed all those around him with his display of almost superhuman physical strength. When others grew tired, he was wide awake, telling stories, reading poetry, reciting long passages from memory.

Not to dispute a medical professional, but I would have very strong doubts about these conclusions. Considering the crushing weight of his responsibilities, he was a remarkably healthy man when he died, and he died of the bullet wound Booth inflicted. No other anomalies were uncovered in the autopsy. On his deathbed, doctors undressed him, and all who were present would write of the unexpected perfection of his body. One wrote that he could have posed for Michelangelo's David.

 

[dhermann1]

Actually, Abraham Lincoln was really William Shakespeare.

 

[scotrace]

They were literary equals!

 

[Mojito]

Those lips were the same at 56 as at 46. Same for the jaw, et al.

He was constipated because he ate very little during the enormous pressures of the war. He also lost weight for the same reason. In the last moths of his life, he impressed all those around him with his display of almost superhuman physical strength. When others grew tired, he was wide awake, telling stories, reading poetry, reciting long passages from memory.

That's what sprung to my mind as well - he showed that in spite of lack of sleep and weightloss he was still extraordinarily strong in an impromteu demonstration involving single handed using an axe to chop wood and then holding it out by the shaft - those watching were amazed to see there wasn't any sign of a tremour, and others could not duplicate the feat (it was a sort of 'party trick' for him, though, and he did explain that it was a trick of balance).

It's an interesting idea - I remember, though, the Marfan's theory to explain his unusual build. I was rather chuffed, as I too was considered as a possible Marfan's sufferer - the fact that neither of us ahd the condition is something we had in common!

I'm wary of posthumous medical diagnosis of long dead historical figures - it's like the Marfan's possibility (and any other number of medical conditions) to explain the artistic depictions of Akhenaten and the suggestion that Emily Bronte was anorexic or epileptic. Come to that, if you look long enough on the internet you can diagnose yourself with any number of dire conditions. No doubt some of these interpretations are valid, but I'm skeptical about the majority without more data.

 

[scotrace]

...involving single handed using an axe to chop wood and then holding it out by the shaft - those watching were amazed to see there wasn't any sign of a tremour, and others could not duplicate the feat (it was a sort of 'party trick' for him, though, and he did explain that it was a trick of balance).

With a thumb and single forefinger, at arm's length - a double-bitted felling axe. The onlookers were soldiers and sailors. He was known throughout his life as a man who was remarkably strong. It's a wonderful story!


Then there was the long-debated belief that Zachary Taylor was poisoned. Finally, he was exhumed, and they discovered he'd died of precisely the reported cause - heat stroke (in modern terms).
Sometimes it can be helpful to look at old symptoms through modern knowledge. George Washington's cause of death was widely reported as pneumonia. But he actually died of a massive throat infection that he might well have survived had his doctors not bled away his ability to fight it. Edgar Allen Poe, rather than dying of severe alcoholism, may have been the victim of rabies.

 

[Harp]

Edgar Allen Poe, rather than dying of severe alcoholism, may have been the victim of rabies.

Shades of Baudelaire's lament?

fftopic: A melancholic cur captive to both his own genius and rabid nature,
Poe may have bled from a heart thorn, but he more than likely died by his own hand.
A little known snippet of Poe is revealed in a letter he sent Sylvannus Thayer after
his expulsion from West Point; entreating introduction to Europe for the purpose of
securing commission in the Polish cavalry. This, after Tamerlane had been composed,
and Poe had deliberately sought expulsion. That Poe would have dared send this to Thayer indicates more than a lack of tact. A careless abandon of reason followed Poe through life.

 

[Miss Peach]

:eusa_clap

Ahhh Poe and Baudelaire!

 

[scotrace]

Why on EARTH did I start this half-thought thread?

 

[Tyburn]

Good Heavens! Lincoln's dead? When did that happen.

I really must try reading a newspaper sometime...

 

[Edward]

It was all those years killing vampires that gave him such developed strengths, IMO.