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TRUE-FALSE STATEMENTS
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
5. The double-entry system of accounting ensures that all the debits will equal all the
credits in an entry.
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
7. The drawings account is a subdivision of the owner's capital account and appears as
an expense on the income statement.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
10. Each time a transaction is recorded; one side of the entry will be to cash.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
11. The use of different accounts is necessary to allow users to analyze the information.
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
12. For transactions to be recorded correctly, debits must always be greater than credits.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
13. Source documents can provide evidence that a transaction has occurred.
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
15. Transactions are entered in the trial balance and then transferred to journals.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
17. The first step in the recording process is to enter the transaction information in a
journal.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
18. The number and types of accounts used by different business enterprises are the
same if generally accepted accounting principles are being followed by the enterprises.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Comprehension
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
20. A simple journal entry requires only one debit to an account and one credit to an
account.
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
21. A compound journal entry may require debits to several accounts and credits to
several accounts.
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
22. Transactions are recorded in alphabetical order in a journal.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
23. Transactions are entered in the ledger first and then they are analyzed in terms of
their effect on the accounts.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Learning Objective: Explain how a ledger helps in the recording process and post
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
Section Reference: The Ledger
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Explain how a ledger helps in the recording process and post
transactions.
Section Reference: The Ledger
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Explain how a ledger helps in the recording process and post
transactions.
Section Reference: The Ledger
CPA: Financial Reporting
26. A chart of accounts should be arranged in alphabetical order for easier reference.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Explain how a ledger helps in the recording process and post
transactions.
Section Reference: The Ledger
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Explain how a ledger helps in the recording process and post
transactions.
Section Reference: The Ledger
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Explain how a ledger helps in the recording process and post
transactions.
Section Reference: The Ledger
CPA: Financial Reporting
29. For the trial balance to balance, the debits must equal the credits.
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Comprehension
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
30. If the trial balance balances, it proves that all of the entries have been made
correctly.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
31. If an entry has been posted to the accounts twice, the trial balance will still balance.
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
32. Preparing the trial balance is the first step in the accounting cycle.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
33. A transposition error involves the reversing of numbers in the posting process.
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
34. After a transaction has been posted, the trial balance will balance.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Comprehension
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
35. A trial balance does NOT prove that all transactions have been recorded or that the
ledger is correct.
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
36. If a journal entry is posted twice, then this error will be found when the trial balance is
produced.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
37. If the trial balance is out of balance and the difference between the debits and the
credits is divisible evenly by nine then there is a transposition error.
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
38. Errors in a trial balance may only be caused by an error in posting the journal entries
to the accounts.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Evaluation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
39. If a journal entry is NOT posted to an account, then the trial balance will NOT
balance.
Answer: False
Bloomcode: Evaluation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
40. A trial balance that balances proves only that the debit accounts equal the credit
accounts.
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Evaluation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
41. A trial balance may be done at any time during the accounting cycle.
Answer: True
Bloomcode: Evaluation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Prepare a trial balance.
Section Reference: The Trial Balance
CPA: Financial Reporting
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MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Answer: c
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: b
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
44. An account is used as part of the recording process and is described by all except
which one of the following?
a) An account can have either a debit or credit balance.
b) An account is a source document.
c) An account may be part of a manual or a computerized accounting system.
d) An account has a title.
Answer: b
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
45. The right side of an account
a) is the date.
b) reflects all transactions for the accounting period.
c) is the debit side.
d) is the credit side.
Answer: d
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: c
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
47. A T account
a) is a way of depicting the basic form of an account.
b) is listed in alphabetical order.
c) has the debit transactions equal to the credit transactions.
d) is used for accounts that have both a debit and credit balance.
Answer: a
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
48. Which of the following statements about the tabular summary and account form of
the cash account is correct?
a) All negative amounts in a tabular summary are cash payments and are recorded as
debits under the account form.
b) All positive amounts in the tabular summary are cash receipts and are recorded as
credits under the account form.
c) A positive cash balance in a tabular summary is reflected as a debit balance under the
account form.
d) Companies are required to use both a tabular summary and the account form.
Answer: c
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: d
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: c
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: c
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: d
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
53. The double-entry system requires that each transaction must be recorded
a) in at least two different accounts.
b) twice.
c) in a journal and in a ledger.
d) as an asset and as a liability.
Answer: a
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
54. A credit is NOT the normal balance for which account listed below?
a) Capital account
b) Revenue account
c) Liability account
d) Drawings account
Answer: d
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: c
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
56. Which one of the following is equivalent to the expanded basic accounting equation?
a) Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Capital + Owner's Drawings – Revenues – Expenses.
b) Assets + Owner's Drawings + Expenses = Liabilities + Owner's Capital + Revenues.
c) Assets – Liabilities – Owner's Drawings = Owner's Capital + Revenues – Expenses.
d) Assets = Revenues + Expenses – Liabilities.
Answer: b
Bloomcode: Comprehension
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: d
Bloomcode: Comprehension
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: b
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: c
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
60. Which of the following statements is true?
a) Debits increase assets and increase liabilities.
b) Credits decrease assets and decrease liabilities.
c) Credits decrease assets and increase liabilities.
d) Debits increase liabilities and increase assets.
Answer: c
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
61. An awareness of the normal balances of accounts would help you spot which of the
following as an error in recording?
a) a debit balance in an asset account
b) a credit balance in an expense account
c) a credit balance in a liabilities account
d) a credit balance in a revenue account
Answer: b
Bloomcode: Comprehension
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: d
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: a
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: c
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: a
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: b
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
67. Funds received before the delivery of goods and services would be shown as
a) unearned revenue on the statement of earnings.
b) unearned revenue on the balance sheet.
c) a credit to cash.
d) sales or service revenue on the statement of earnings.
Answer: b
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
68. Of the following accounts, the one that normally has a debit balance is
a) Accounts Payable.
b) Interest Expense.
c) L. Darnell, Capital.
d) Consulting Revenue.
Answer: b
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: c
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe how accounts, debits, and credits are used to record
business transactions.
Section Reference: The Account
CPA: Financial Reporting
70. Transactions are recorded for all of the following reasons except
a) when the transaction causes a change in the financial position of the company.
b) to make all of the accounts balance.
c) when evidence of the transaction is available.
d) when there is a specific effect on the accounting equation.
Answer: b
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: c
Bloomcode: Knowledge
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
CPA: Financial Reporting
Answer: a
Bloomcode: Comprehension
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: State how a journal is used in the recording process and journalize
transactions.
Section Reference: Analyzing and Recording Transactions
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heart acting with regularity and vigour, about 80 times in a minute,
and circulating dark coloured venous blood; the peristaltic motion of
the intestines was likewise visible; and the muscles, when made the
part of a galvanic circuit, readily contracted. In this experiment,
observes Mr. Brodie, it is evident that the electric shock did not
destroy the irritability of the muscular fibre, nor did it affect the
action of the heart. Death took place precisely in the same manner
as from a severe injury of the head; and the animal died, manifestly
from the destruction of the functions of the brain; and, in this case,
Mr. Brodie has no doubt, but that if the lungs had been artificially
inflated, the action of the heart might have been maintained, and
the animal probably have been restored to life.
The nature and extent of the injury inflicted by lightning, depend
upon the intensity and direction of the electrical discharge, and vary
greatly in degree; by far the greater number of flashes are harmless
discharges from one cloud to another, and the instances in which it
strikes the earth are comparatively rare: when however this does
occur, and it directs its course through a human being, it may
expend its influence upon the surface, and produce partial or general
vesications.[56] Sometimes the clothes of the person have been
violently rent, and the metallic substances about them melted; or it
may pass through the body, without including the clothes, and it
may occasion death without injuring the organic structure of any
part of the body: or it may pass through only a particular portion of
the body, and produce local injury.
But it has happened that persons have been struck when the
tempest has appeared to be at a considerable distance; this has
been explained by Signor Beccaria, by supposing that it is a
discharge of electric fluid from the earth, occasioned by the passing
of a cloud that has just before, in the elemental strife, been
rendered negatively electric. Lord Stanhope distinguishes such a
discharge by the name of the Returning Stroke.[57]
As a provision for personal security during a thunder storm, a few
precautions are necessary, and we are induced to notice them in this
place, as their history is necessarily involved in our enquiries
concerning death by lightning. In the open air, shelter ought not to
be sought immediately under trees, for should they be struck, such a
situation would be attended with the most imminent peril: on the
contrary, the distance of twenty or thirty feet from such objects, may
be considered as affording a place of safety, for should a discharge
take place, they will most likely receive it, and the less elevated
bodies will escape. Any surface of water, and even the streamlets
that may have resulted from a recent shower should be avoided, for
being excellent conductors, the height of a man, when connected
with them, is very likely to determine the course of an electrical
discharge. The partial conductors, through which the lightning
directs its course when it enters a building, are usually the
appendages of the walls and partitions; the most secure situation is
therefore the middle of the room, and this situation may be rendered
still more secure by lying on a hair mattress, or even on a thick
woollen hearth rug. The part of every building least likely to receive
injury is the middle story, as the lightning does not always pass from
the clouds to the earth, but is occasionally discharged from the earth
to the clouds, as in the case of the “returning stroke;” hence it is
absurd to take refuge in a cellar, as recommended by Dr. Priestley;
indeed many instances are on record, in which the basement story
has been the only part of a building that has sustained severe injury,
the electric charge being divided and weakened as it ascended. Any
approach to a fire-place should be particularly avoided, for the
chimneys are very likely to determine the course of the lightning; the
same caution is necessary with respect to gilt furniture, bell-wires,
and moderately extensive surfaces of metal of every description.
DEATH BY STARVATION.
That a living animal body cannot long survive without the
ingestion of alimentary matter, is too self-evident to require
demonstration. Living bodies, says Cuvier, may be considered as a
kind of furnaces into which inert substances are successively thrown,
which combine among themselves in various manners, maintain a
certain place, and perform an action determined by the nature of the
combinations they have formed, and at last fly off in order to
become again subject to the laws of inanimate nature.
It must, however, be observed, that there is a difference,
depending on age and health, in the proportion of the parts which
enter into the current, and those which abandon it; and that the
velocity of the motion usually varies according to the different
conditions of each living body; hence it follows, that the period
during which an individual may exist without food, will be liable to
variation. We have already stated (page 394) that, cæteris paribus,
he will perish from inanition with a rapidity proportioned to his
youth, and state of robust vigour; and we remarked in what strict
conformity with physiological principles the poet Dante had
described the fate of Ugolino and his family.[58] The same fact
appears also to have been well understood by the ancient
physicians;[59] equally evident is it that women are able to support
abstinence longer than men. It has been also observed that a moist
atmosphere contributes to the protraction of life, under
circumstances of privation; this may depend, not only upon the fluid
matter thus furnished to the body, but upon the non-conducting
power of the medium, in relation to aqueous vapour; the ingestion
of a very small proportion of water revives in an extraordinary
degree, the animal perishing from famine, and prolongs his
existence. Redi[60] instituted a series of experiments with the sole
view of ascertaining how long animals can live without food. Of a
number of capons which he kept without either solid or liquid food,
not one survived the ninth day; but one to which he allowed water,
drank it with avidity, and did not perish until the twentieth day.
Elizabeth Woodcock, who was buried under the snow, near
Cambridge, for the space of eight days, undoubtedly owed her
preservation to the snow which she occasionally sucked.[61]
Those cases of extraordinary fasting, which are recorded in the
different Transactions and Journals of almost every country, are to
be generally regarded as gross impositions; we[62] have already
exposed the fallacy of several of the more popular histories of this
kind. Such impostors, however, in their attempt to delude the world,
have unintentionally offered themselves as the voluntary victims of
physiological experiment; for we have at least learnt from them how
small a portion of aliment is sufficient to preserve the life of a human
being; a fact which had never before been satisfactorily proved,
however probable it had been rendered, by the recorded habits of
many of the early Christians, especially those of the East, who
retired from persecution into the deserts of Arabia and Egypt.
The sufferings of a person perishing from inanition[63] must be
considered as the most acute that can befall humanity; and yet we
have instances on record of their having been voluntarily
encountered as the means of suicide; a very interesting and well-
authenticated instance of this kind has been related as having
occurred in Corsica;[64] and, as it is calculated to afford, at once, a
history of the symptoms of Starvation, and an exemplification of
their severity, we shall introduce a brief account of the case in this
place. Luc Antoine Viterbi was condemned to death as an accomplice
in the assassination of Frediani, a crime which he denied to the last
moment, and appealed against a sentence passed upon him by a
Court composed of his personal enemies. Towards the end of
November, Viterbi (knowing his condemnation, and being confined in
the prison of Bastia), resolved to die. To effect his purpose, he
abstained from food for three days, and then ate voraciously, and to
a forced excess, in the hope that, after fasting so long, he should
thereby put an end to his existence; in this however he was
deceived, and, on the second of December, he determined to starve
himself to death; from that day nothing could shake his awful
resolution, although he did not expire until the night of the 21st of
that month. During the three first days, Viterbi felt himself
progressively tormented by hunger; under these circumstances a
report was made to the public minister, who ordered bread, water,
wine, and soup to be taken daily to his cell, and placed
conspicuously in view. No debility was manifested during these three
days, no irregular muscular movement was remarked, his ideas
continued sound, and he wrote with his usual facility, but took no
nourishment.
From the 5th to the 6th, to hunger insensibly succeeded the much
more grievous suffering of thirst, which became so acute, that on
the 6th, without ever deviating from his resolution, he began to
moisten his lips and mouth occasionally, and to gargle with a few
drops of water, to relieve the burning pain in his throat; but he let
nothing pass the organs of deglutition, being desirous not to
assuage the most insupportable cravings, but to mitigate a pain
which might have shaken his resolution. On the 6th, his physical
powers were a little weakened; his voice was nevertheless still
sonorous, pulsation regular, and a natural heat equally extended
over his whole frame. From the 3d to the 6th, he had continued to
write; at night several hours of tranquil sleep seemed to suspend the
progress of his sufferings, no change was observable in his mental
faculties, and he complained of no local pain. Until the 10th, the
thirst became more and more insupportable; Viterbi merely
continued to gargle, without once swallowing a single drop of water;
but in the course of the 10th, overcome by excess of pain, he seized
the jug of water, which was near him, and drank immoderately.
During the last three days, debility had made sensible progress, his
voice became feeble, pulsation had declined, and the extremities
were cold. Viterbi, however, continued to write; and sleep, each
night, still afforded him several hours ease.
From the 10th to the 12th the symptoms made a slight progress.
The constancy of Viterbi never yielded an instant; he dictated his
journal, and afterwards approved and signed what had been thus
written agreeably to his dictation. During the night of the 12th, the
symptoms assumed a more decided character, debility was extreme,
pulsation scarcely sensible, his voice extraordinarily feeble, the cold
had extended itself all over the body, and the pangs of thirst were
more acute than ever. On the 13th the unhappy man thinking
himself at the point of death, again seized the jug of water, and
drank twice, after which the cold became more severe; and
congratulating himself that death was nigh, he stretched his body on
the bed, and said to the gendarmes who were guarding him, “Look
how well I have laid myself out.” At the expiration of a quarter of an
hour, he asked for some brandy; the keeper not having any, he
called for some wine, of which he took four spoonsful; when he had
swallowed these the cold suddenly ceased, heat returned, and
Viterbi enjoyed a sleep of four hours. On awaking (on the morning
of the 13th) and finding his powers restored, he fell into a rage with
the keeper, protesting that they had deceived him, and then began
beating his head violently against the wall of his prison, and would
inevitably have killed himself, had he not been prevented by the
gendarmes. During the two following days he resisted his inclination
to drink, but continued to gargle occasionally with water; during the
two nights he suffered a little from exhaustion, but in the morning
found himself rather relieved. It was then that he penned some
stanzas. On the 16th, at five o’clock in the morning, his powers were
almost annihilated, pulsation could hardly be felt, and his voice was
almost inaudible; his body was benumbed with cold, and it was
thought that he was on the point of expiring. At ten o’clock he began
to feel better, pulsation was more sensible, his voice strengthened,
and, finally, heat again extended over his frame, and in this state he
continued during the whole of the 17th. From the latter day until the
20th, Viterbi only became more inexorable in his resolution to die.
During the 19th, the pangs of hunger and thirst appeared more
grievous than ever; so insufferable, indeed, were they, that for the
first time, Viterbi let a few tears escape him; but his invincible mind
instantly spurned this human tribute. For a moment he seemed to
have resumed his wonted energy, and said, in the presence of his
guards, and the gaoler, “I will persist, whatever may be the
consequence; my mind shall be stronger than my body; my strength
of mind does not vary, that of my body daily becomes weaker.” A
little after this energetic expression, an icy coldness again assailed
his body, the shiverings were frequent and dreadful, and his loins, in
particular, were seized with a stone-like coldness, which extended
itself down his thighs. During the 19th a slight pain at intervals
affected his heart, and for the first time, he felt a ringing sensation
in his ears; at noon, on this day, his head became heavy; his sight,
however, was perfect, and he conversed almost as usual, making
some signs with his hands.
On the 20th, Viterbi declared to the gaoler and physician, that he
would not again moisten his mouth; and feeling the approach of
death he stretched himself, asking, as on a former occasion, whether
he was well out, and added, “I am prepared to leave this world.”
Death did not this time betray his hopes. On the 21st Viterbi was no
more.
In this interesting history, we receive a faithful account of the
physical effects of starvation upon a human being, and perceive how
greatly a very inconsiderable portion of liquid is capable of producing
an invigorating effect upon the body, when in a state of extreme
inanition; but the mind of the subject before us was stern and
invincible, inflexibly bent upon self destruction; and we therefore do
not perceive the developement of those moral effects, which in other
cases are the general consequences of starvation. The histories of
besieged towns[65] would afford us ample evidence upon this
subject; and would shew that famine destroys all the most powerful
instincts of our nature. We know not, however, a more awful
illustration of this fact than that furnished by the account of the
wreck of the Méduse,[66] and its appalling consequences; it appears
that this frigate struck on the bank of Arguin, and as all attempts to
save her were fruitless, nothing remained but to concert immediate
measures for the escape of the passengers and crew; five boats
were accordingly got in readiness, and a raft, destined to carry the
greatest number of people, was hastily constructed; biscuit, wine,
and fresh water were also apportioned to each; but in the tumult of
abandoning the wreck, it so happened that the raft had the least
share of the provisions, and in which there was not a single barrel of
biscuit. This raft, containing no less than one hundred and fifty
souls, was to have been towed by the boats, with which it was
connected by ropes; but the adventurers had not proceeded far,
when the boats cast off, and cruelly abandoned the raft to the mercy
of the ocean; to the scene which ensued it is impossible for any
language, however florid, to do adequate justice. Despair, aided by
the pangs of hunger, soon excited a mutiny; a dreadful slaughter
ensued, and the flesh of their murdered comrades afforded to the
survivors a short respite from the immediate sufferings of famine.
THE APPLICATION OF THE PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTS
ESTABLISHED IN THE PRECEDING CHAPTERS, TO
THE GENERAL TREATMENT OF ASPHYXIA.
Application of Heat.
CASE I.