Knives Out — The Man Who Swallowed Small Blades

Long before kids were eating Tide pods and swallowing spoonfuls of dry cinnamon, there were other people in the world willing to do dangerous things to thrill a crowd. As far back as the early 1800s, we find one such case recorded by the late physician. Alexander Marcet of Guy Hospital. His tale regards a 23-year-old American sailor named John Cummings.

In June 1799, John's ship was stationed off the coast of France. He went into Havre De Grace with some of his fellow shipmates. A tent in a nearby field with people gathered outside of it caught their eye and they ventured closer to see what was going on there. They were told it was a play and went inside to see a charlatan pretending to swallow clasp knives for the crowd.

Back aboard their ship, one of the men told those who had not attended about the Frenchman who had swallowed the knives. A somewhat drunken John bragged to them that he could swallow knives just as well as the man he had seen on stage, not aware that it had been a fake feat. Challenging him to prove it, they watched in wonder as he took out his own pocket knife and swallowed it down. This resulted in challenges to swallow more, which he did. According to his own account, he swallowed three more knives in all that night. His shipmates responded with cheers and a few rounds of drinks for his efforts.

The following day, his bowel movements relieved him of one of the knives, and the day after that, he produced two at once. Though the first knife never appeared, he thought little of it and didn’t check for it in subsequent evacuations. Instead, he considered his little knife swallowing act successful and continued to entertain his fellow shipmates and others over the course of the next six years with his unusual talent.

In March 1805, an intoxicated John returned to Boston and was regaling some of his fellow shipmates and tavern goers with his tales of knife swallowing. Of course, they wanted a demonstration and he was happy enough to show off. Someone produced a small pocket knife and he swallowed it without effort. By the end of the night, he had swallowed five more. The following day, he continued to demonstrate his ability, swallowing eight more knives.

This time, he paid a higher price for his drunken antics. He awoke the following day with severe pains in his stomach and constant vomiting. His condition was such that he was carried to Charleston Hospital and treated. John’s account of his visit was merely to say that between the time he was admitted and the 28th of the next month, he was “delivered of his cargo.”

The day after his release, John was no worse for wear and set sail aboard a brig for France, arriving there safely before beginning his journey back to America on another vessel. However, that vessel was taken by HMS Isis and sent to Newfoundland for condemnation while he was brought to England, ending up in Spithead for some time. Settling in for drinks, John once again found himself drunk and bragging about his odd feat. It was the 4th of December, by his account, and he ended up swallowing another five knives for the entertainment of his fellow shipmates.

The drinking continued into the next day, as did John’s demonstration of his feats. Encouraged by those around him, he swallowed another nine knives over the course of the day. Onlookers told him he swallowed four additional knives, but he was far too inebriated to remember having done so.

This is the last official record of John’s knife swallowing to be recorded, bringing his total to at least 35 knives consumed since he had first started doing so. Unfortunately, on the 6th of December, John was again feeling the effects of his drunken antics. Seeking out the ship’s physician, Dr. Lara, he obtained treatment and medicines to help him with his dire situation.

At first, there was no relief to be had, but after three months, the large amounts of oil he had been given to help facilitate relief resulted in his saying he could feel the knives “dropping down his bowels.” There is no mention from him of any of them actually making it any further than that, though he did seem to feel some relief from the pain he had been experiencing. Based on this, assumptions can be made.

It wasn’t until June 1806 that John began to experience any further issues. At that point, he is recorded as saying that he vomited up one side of a knife’s handle, which was recognized by one of his shipmates as belonging to the knife he had owned and given to John to swallow. In November 1806, John expelled more knife fragments. In February 1807, more were passed.

By June 1807, John had been dismissed from duty due to his condition. He returned to London, where he became a patient of Dr. Babington of Guy Hospital. Finding his tale too unbelievable, the doctor released him after only a few days, deeming him a prankster.

It wasn’t until August when John’s health had taken a more severe downturn that he was readmitted and yet again attended by Dr. Babington. By the 28th of October, he was dismissed once more, deemed to be in better health than when he had arrived for treatment.

It wasn’t until almost a year later, in September 1808, that John again returned to Guy Hospital. He was attended to by Dr. Curry, who remained his physician until March 1809 when John’s continually failing health finally ended in his death. Records indicate that he was in an extremely emaciated condition and a subsequent autopsy revealed many knife parts still present in his stomach and bowels, some of which had perforated his organs.