About the year 1799 he, in imitation of some jugglers whose exhibition he had then witnessed, in an hour of intoxication, swallowed four clasp knives such as sailors commonly use; all of which passed from him in a few days without much inconvenience.

Six years afterward, he swallowed FOURTEEN knives of different sizes; by these, however, he was much disordered, but recovered; and again, in a paroxysm of intoxication, he actually swallowed SEVENTEEN, of the effects of which he died in March, 1809.

On dissection, fourteen knife blades were found remaining in his stomach, and the back spring of one penetrating through the bowel, seemed the immediate cause of his death.
Several women have adopted the profession of sword-swallowing, and some have won much more than a passing fame.

Notable among these is Mlle.
Edith Clifford, who is, perhaps, the most generously endowed.
Possessed of more than ordinary personal charms, a refined taste for dressing both herself and her stage, and an unswerving devotion to her art, she has perfected an act that has found favor even in the Royal Courts of Europe.
Mlle.

Clifford was born in London in 1884 and began swallowing the blades when only 15 years of age.