SchoolTube Community
Imagine a hunger so profound, so relentless, that it drives you to consume anything and everything in sight. This wasn't a fictional horror story, but the reality of Tarrare, a man born in 18th-century France with an insatiable appetite that continues to fascinate and disturb us even today.
Tarrare's condition, known as polyphagia, manifested in extreme hunger that no amount of food could satisfy. While we often use "hungry" to describe a passing desire for a snack, Tarrare's hunger was a constant, agonizing force that dictated his life.
From a young age, Tarrare's appetite set him apart. As a teenager, he could devour meals meant for several people, quickly draining his family's meager resources. Unable to manage his insatiable hunger, they made the heartbreaking decision to send him away.
Life on the streets led Tarrare to a band of traveling showmen who recognized the morbid curiosity his condition could evoke. He became a sideshow performer, shocking audiences by consuming live animals, stones, and even corks – anything to satiate the beast within.
Eyewitness accounts from this time paint a disturbing picture of Tarrare's condition. One account describes him snatching a live cat, tearing it apart with his teeth, and swallowing it whole, leaving nothing but the skeleton behind. The stench that emanated from his body was reportedly so putrid that people could smell him from twenty paces away.
Despite his unusual diet and the toll it took on his body, Tarrare remained alarmingly thin. His skin, stretched thin by the sheer volume of food he consumed, would sag after each meal, forming wrinkles so deep they could be tied around his waist.
Eventually, Tarrare's unique "talent" caught the attention of General Alexandre de Beauharnais, a prominent figure in the French Revolutionary Army. The General saw an opportunity to utilize Tarrare's unusual ability for espionage.
Could Tarrare become a living, breathing secret courier? The General tested this theory by having him swallow a wooden box containing a message. To his astonishment, the message survived its journey through Tarrare's digestive system, emerging hours later still legible.
Entrusted with a vital message for a captured French colonel, Tarrare embarked on his mission, disguised as a Prussian peasant. However, his lack of knowledge of the German language and his undeniably peculiar appearance quickly aroused suspicion.
Captured and tortured, Tarrare confessed to his mission, revealing the message hidden within his stomach. The Prussians, however, were met with a less than earth-shattering revelation. The message simply read, "Let me know if you got this message." It seemed the General's faith in Tarrare as a spy was as fleeting as the contents of his stomach.
Returned to French lines with a beating and a stern warning, Tarrare sought help from Baron Percy, a military surgeon who had taken an interest in his case. Percy, along with Dr. Courville, had conducted numerous examinations on Tarrare, desperate to find a cure for his insatiable hunger. They tried everything from vinegar and tobacco to laudanum, but nothing could quell the fire that raged within him.
Tragically, Tarrare's condition worsened, driving him to consume the discarded blood of hospital patients and even the corpses in the morgue. When a 14-month-old child went missing, suspicion fell upon Tarrare, forcing Baron Percy to turn him away.
Years later, Tarrare resurfaced in a Versailles hospital, his body ravaged by tuberculosis. He died shortly after, his secret dying with him. Baron Percy, determined to uncover the source of Tarrare's affliction, conducted an autopsy.
The autopsy revealed a stomach so large it nearly filled his entire abdominal cavity, a grotesquely enlarged liver, and an esophagus so wide it could accommodate objects of astonishing size. The stench, however, proved unbearable, forcing the doctors to abandon the procedure prematurely.
While the exact cause of Tarrare's polyphagia remains a mystery, modern medical experts speculate that hyperthyroidism, a condition causing the thyroid gland to overproduce hormones, might have been the culprit. This could explain his rapid metabolism, constant sweating, and of course, his insatiable hunger.
Tarrare's story serves as a stark reminder of the complexities of the human body and the devastating effects of medical conditions that were beyond the understanding of his time. His tale continues to fascinate and horrify, a testament to the enduring power of the strange and the unknown.
You may also like