A Man Vomits Up Snakes!!! ("Not My Family" Friday)

As genealogists, we come across some really interesting items that don't directly relate to our family tree. I decided to start a series called "Not My Family" Friday where I can share some of these amazing finds. If you'd like to join along, please post a link to your post! I'd love to see what you've found!

Here's a really disgusting series of articles about a man who repeatedly threw up snakes! (I found this while looking for my Longwell family in Pennsylvania, though I don't see a connection for this man to my tree.)

"Two Snakes in His Stomach", Reading Times; Reading, Pennsylvania, 03 Oct 1885, page 3, column 1;
digital image newspapers.com, (http://www.newspapers.com: accessed 14 Aug 2014) 

John Longwell, of Charleston, a few miles from here, has for two years past been subject to fits, being attacked suddenly and lying unconscious for hours. Within the past few months he has experienced a cold sensation in his throat occasionally, as though something was rising into his mouth. This, attended with the strange feeling in his stomach, convinced him that there was some living thing inside of him. His physician thought it would do no harm to give him an emetic, and accordingly gave his patient a large dose. The result was that Mr. Longwell threw up two snakes, one about fourteen inches long and the other a foot in length, brown in color, and both alive, and they are alive yet. Mr. Longwell was so overjoyed at this deliverance that he brought the reptiles to town and exhibited them to a few of his friends. Mr. Longwell thinks that he swallowed the eggs which produced the snakes while carelessly drinking water from a spring.

"John Longwell throws up another snake"; The Wellsboro Gazette, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, 21 Sep 1886,;page 3, column 4; digital image newspapers.com, (http://www.newspapers.com: accessed 14 Aug 2014)

It is stated that Mr. John Longwell of Charleston, recently threw up another eighteen inch snake, which it is believed had been an inhabitant of his stomach for about three years. It will be remembered that Mr. Longwell created a sensation about a year ago by asserting that he had vomited up two small snakes. His opinion is that he swallowed the eggs some three years ago while stopping to drink from a spring. Mrs Longwell alleges that her husband s suffering was terrible to be hold, and she thought he would chock to death before the snake was ejected from his throat. Mr Longwell is somewhat exercised in mind as to whether this is the last of the reptiles or not. He fears that there may be other strange dwellers in his stomach and that he will have to suffer again from the emetics and the terrible convulsions in getting rid of them.

Isn't this a crazy story? I'm wondering if he really had some kind of parasite like a tape worm? Strange!!!

Again, please leave a comment if you decide to share your own "not my family" Friday story!

Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please write me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net