Live Lizards, For 13 Years In Girl's Stomach, Slowly Poison To Death,

The strange case of Lovie Herman puzzled doctors for more than a decade.
When Herman lost her struggle shortly after midnight on Dec. 9, 1910, the reported cause of death jolted the medical community and sent a shock wave through Northeast Ohio. It was the stuff of nightmares.
Dr. Alex J. McIntosh, Herman's attending physician, certified that his patient had succumbed ``due to stomach trouble caused by lizards in the stomach poisoning the entire system.''
``There is absolutely no question about the lizards being found in the girl's stomach, for I have the two largest ones preserved in a bottle in my office,'' McIntosh said.

He also reported finding a batch of eggs in a tiny ball. The green reptiles had been in her system a long time, he said. Herman's family told him that she had taken a dip in a ``cool, refreshing spring'' near Millersburg a dozen years earlier, and it must have been there that the girl accidentally swallowed tiny lizards or possibly their eggs, he said.

A few days before Herman's death, McIntosh said he had given the woman a strong dose of medicine under the assumption that she was suffering from a tapeworm. That's when, he said, she could feel the reptiles ``crawl up her throat.''

``They are each 3 � inches in length,'' he said. ``One lizard is as well formed as any I have ever seen. I also extracted several smaller lizards from Miss Herman's stomach, but I have kept only the two largest ones. The head, mouth and tail on both are to be plainly seen.''
www.para-normal.com...
TIf this were true it would be the freakiest cause of death I have heard of! Why the Dr. would make up something like this I don't know, but apparently he retracted the story after pressure from the medical community

[Edited on 1-3-2004 by jezebel]

oh gross...and disturbing, makes my tummy turn.

didn't she feel them moving in her stomach???

Originally posted by worldwatcher
oh gross...and disturbing, makes my tummy turn.

didn't she feel them moving in her stomach???

It says that she could feel them crawling up her throat...

You'd think it would be impossible with stomach acid and all.

I read that, but I meant before that, how couldn't she feel a 3 1/2 inch thing crawling or swimming or oooh I'm gonna

Ya, if you read the rest of the article, some doctors rejected the doctors cause of death on the girls death certificate.

no way........the acid would've killed them off and even if it didn't, they would still die cuz there isn't a lot a oxygen in the stomach. this is most likely a lie

Yes but wouldnt she like crap it out es[icially if she swollowed eggs of the lizards. They are pretty small.

This is truly a disturbing story if it is true. You�re right Vietnow. I didn't think it could be possible with stomach acid in there.

WW, are you sure its only the article making your stomach turn?

Originally posted by worldwatcher
oh gross...and disturbing, makes my tummy turn.

didn't she feel them moving in her stomach???

i realy dont beleave this

stomic acid is alot stronger then alot of people know!!

plus them moving around and just BS

thanks to whoever brought this thread back to life or remade it..

Stomach acid is indeed very strong. It's got a pH level of 1-2, which is the same as battery acid.. sulfuric acid.
Let's drop some lizards in some acid and see how long they survive.

Hahaha thats disturbing.

All these things that can live inside you creep me out.

This story is about as bogus and bogus can get.

For one thing. Imagine this. Some parts in China where it is a delicacy to eat live Calamari. Has one yet to die of a squid living in him/her? No. Why?

Your body really wouldn't allow a creature to live inside of it. Unless it was a human specific parasite. It would purge it. And it's not like a little lizard is a natural parasite. So it wouldn't exactly know what to do even if it did make it to the stomach.

Not to mention the churning and bubbling of stomach acid that would digest this little bugger.

Bogus story...

Maybe that's where they got the exploding chest idea for Alien.

The link says it considered a urban legend by many. Probably some made up story to keep kids from swimming when they are not supposed to.

I know someone that found a 3 foot long thing in the toilet after taking a dump. He thought it was part of his intestine or something & took it to the doctor. The doctor told him it was a worm that he probably got from something he ate. He was living in Japan at the time & thus every time I eat sushi I wonder if I'm going to get a suprise in the toilet someday.


[Edited on 4-3-2004 by outsider]

That's pretty nasty. If I felt something moving around in my stomach or crawling up my throat, I would simply force myselft to throw up til' them buggers came out.

Since the 16 other attending doctors disagreed, and Dr. Alex J. McIntosh later retracted his story . . . well, I have doubts.

I wonder if there are any similar cases in history?

In 1694, the 12-year-old son of pastor Zacharias D�dlerein, of the village Berolzheim in southern Germany, was taken severely ill. After several apoplectic fits and attacks of abdominal cramps, he vomited numerous insects followed by 21 newts, four frogs and some toads. The clerics diagnosed possession by the Devil; what particularly impressed them was that when the suffering boy was led to take some fresh air near a pond with croaking frogs, his stomach-frogs croaked loudly in reply.

Ever hear about Catharina Geisslerin, widely known as "the toad-vomiting woman of Altenburg"? In 1642, she took the first step towards notoriety by vomiting several toads and lizards. After two years, the appearance on the scene of Dr Thomas Rheinesius, the physician-in-ordinance to the Elector of Saxonia, brought an abrupt cessation of the spectacular toad-vomiting, but, although he experimented with various emetics and purgatives for several months, he was unable to chivvy the animals out from their lair. In May 1648 Catharina Geisslerin again started vomiting amphibians, 13 toads and a lot of spawn being produced in a couple of weeks.

In 6th century Germany, a young lad with a snake in his stomach (known as a "bosom serpent") was taken to a holy woman could feel it moving in his intestines. She fastened a small cross to a wine-leaf which was tied to the boy's stomach and this magic formula had the desired effect: in a volcanic opening of his bowel, the snake was expelled like a projectile.
. . .

That's enough for me. I'm hungry! Ciao.

Those stories made me think of the kid in Harry Potter vomiting slugs.
It's just a nasty thought.

Originally posted by RogueOne
in a volcanic opening of his bowel, the snake was expelled like a projectile.
. . .

That's enough for me. I'm hungry! Ciao.

Boy, I hate it when that happens!

This story is awesome. I think we all probably have things living inside of us, and we just are not aware of it.

I am not sure if I believe that there was such an extreme case as was described by the doctor but I do think this girl was killed by the lizard or life-form in her body.