The sword would disappear inside the throat and miraculously come back out after a few moments.
On that pleasant evening of the 19th century, when Dr. Adolf Kussmaul was attracted by the noise of the crowd while passing through the streets of the German city of Heidelberg, this was a shocking sight in front of him.
Robert Youngson writes in ‘The Medical Mavericks’ that “Mesmerized by the demonstration of sword swallowing, Kussmaul wondered whether a similar procedure could be used to peer inside the human body.”
Sword swallowing is an ancient skill and was developed by Barry DeLong and Harold S. Paine’s research shows that this art originated in India around 2,000 BC.
According to an early 19th century magazine, when the art first reached Britain, the skill of sword swallowers from India was considered incredible.
In 1813 ‘swallowing the sword’ was publicized in London at that time as a new and astonishing feat performed by Indian acrobats.
Demonstrators of this art occasionally toured Europe and America and it was written about these demonstrations in ‘The Times’ that ‘The novelty of sword swallowing has attracted the public’s attention away from anything else. . Indian magicians have shocked the city by swallowing the sword.
By the end of the 19th century, this skill of sword swallowing had spread all over the world including Europe.
Iron Henry’s contribution
Long and Paine wrote that “Dr. Adolph Kussmaul, with the help of the sword swallower ‘Iron Henry’, developed an instrument that could be inserted deep into the body through the esophagus to investigate disease.”
Eliza Berman writes that Dr. Kussmaul conducted the first examination of the upper part of the stomach, or endoscopy in medical language, on ‘Iron Henry’ in 1868.
She writes, “Kusmaul was frustrated at not being able to see very far into the esophagus of a patient suffering from a tumor. Iron Henry swallowed a 47 centimeter long tube, through which Kussmaul, with the help of a mirror and an oil lamp, observed the entire alimentary canal in the sword swallower’s stomach.”
Swallowing a sword is a dangerous feat which can even lead to death. According to a study published in the British Medical Journal on men and women who swallowed swords, there were cases of bleeding in their intestines and serious injuries to the food pipe.
Albert Hopkins writes that in 1897, a Scottish physician named Stevens conducted a series of experiments with a man who swallowed a sword.
Only doctors may know the word ‘Electrocardiogram’, but many people are familiar with its short name ‘ECG’. The test done to measure heart activity is called electrocardiography (ECG).
This was also experimented with in 1906 on a sword swallower when the German doctor M. Kramer inserted an electrode into its esophagus to measure heart activity.
Sword swallowers play a big role in medical experiments today. But this is a very dangerous skill and it can be fatal to do it yourself.
In January 2006, sword swallower Dan Meyer worked with researchers in Nashville (Tennessee) to see if sword swallowing techniques could be used to help patients with swallowing disorders.
International Day of Sword Swallowers
In 2007, sword swallower Dai Andrews worked with Dr. Sharon Caplan at Johns Hopkins University to determine whether sword swallowing could be used to help patients who have suffered severe damage to their throats. .
Obviously the benefits of these experiences sometimes reach only those who swallow the sword.
Journalist Olivia B. Waxman spoke to Todd Robbins, a sword swallower who lectures on the history of the art at Yale, who described how easy endoscopy has been for him.
He says, “I had to get an endoscopy done. Usually they make the patient unconscious before inserting the tube. But since I was about to swallow the sword, the doctor simply handed me the endoscope and I swallowed it.”
But this profession is now coming to an end.
The International Association of Sword Swallowers says there are now only a few dozen professionals left.
Every year on the last Saturday of February, sword swallowers celebrate their International Day by performing this feat.
According to the Sword Swallowers’ Association, the purpose of celebrating the day of this ancient art is to ‘raise awareness about the contribution of sword swallowers to the field of science and medicine’.