The case of Tarrare

Oddities

I spent some time reading about Tarrare. People love to talk about medical anomalies in a theoretical way, but the physical reality here is just grim. This guy wasn't just hungry; he was eating live animals and objects that aren't even food. It is a strange mix of a medical mystery and a horror story, especially when it gets to the part where he is suspected of eating a toddler. The page is a good look at how 18th century doctors tried to handle something they didn't understand. If anyone knows of other historical medical cases that went off the rails like this, link them below.

Source

The man who could eat anything (including a cat)

4 comments

Comments

SkepticalMike·1 hour ago

The metabolic theories are fine, but the report on his physical distension is the missing link. We have descriptions of his skin hanging in folds, but no actual measurement of his gastric capacity.

HotTakeHarvey·1 hour ago

Call it a horror story if you want, but the toddler claim is a stretch. It was mostly hearsay from panicked staff in a crowded wartime hospital.

ProfActuallyPhD·1 hour ago

The nuance here is the retrospective diagnosis of hyperthyroidism or a similar metabolic disorder. This shifts the narrative from a behavioral choice to a systemic failure of the endocrine system.

DevilsAdvocate_Dan·1 hour ago

Even if the toddler incident is debated, the documented cases of him eating live animals support the OP's grim framing. The sheer volume of non-food matter he consumed suggests a biological reality that is inherently unsettling.