Charles Domery
While stationed near Paris, he was recorded as having eaten 174 cats in a year, and although he disliked vegetables, he would eat 4 to 5 pounds (1.8 to 2.3 kg) of grass each day if he could not find other food.
[5] Despite his unusual diet and behaviour in the presence of food, doctors described Domery as of a normal build,[4] and tall for the period at 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m).
[5] His muscles were normally formed, but observed by doctors to be weaker than usual, although during his time in the army, he had marched 14 French leagues (approximately 25 mi/42 km) in a day with no ill effects.
[8] Domery then enlisted with the French Revolutionary Army,[8] and shocked his new comrades with his unusual eating habits and voracious appetite.
[3] Granted double rations, and using his pay to buy additional food whenever possible,[3] he nonetheless suffered from extreme hunger; while based in an army camp near Paris, Domery ate 174 cats in a single year, leaving only the skins and bones, and ate 4 to 5 pounds (1.8 to 2.3 kg) of grass each day if other food was unavailable.
[4] While in service on board the French ship Hoche,[12] a sailor's leg was shot off by cannon fire, and Domery grabbed the severed limb and began to eat it until a crew member wrestled it from him and threw it into the sea.
[11][13][note 4] In October 1798, a Royal Navy squadron under the command of Sir John Borlase Warren captured the Hoche off the coast of Ireland,[12] and those on board, including Domery, were interned in a prison camp near Liverpool.
[17] The eagerness with which he attacks his beef when his stomach is not gorged, resembles the voracity of a hungry wolf, tearing off and swallowing it with canine greediness.
When his throat is dry from continued exercise, he lubricates it by stripping the grease off the candles between his teeth, which he generally finishes at three mouthfuls, and wrapping the wick like a ball, string and all, sends it after at a swallow.
[11] At 9:30 am, he was given a meal of 5 lbs (2.3 kg) of raw beef, twelve large tallow candles totalling one pound (453 g), and a bottle of porter, all of which were consumed.
[9] Upon Domery's return to his quarters at 6:15 pm following the conclusion of the experiment, he was recorded as being of "particularly good cheer", and danced, smoked his pipe and drank a further bottle of porter.
