My Great, Great Grandmother Threw Up WHAT?!?

My great, great grandmother, Sarah Jane (Eastwood) Merrill, had evidently been ill for five years when a “marked change in her condition” took place. What was her very strange ailment? And, what occurred to make her feel better? Here’s the brief article I found:

After five years’ illness, Mrs. A. L. Merrill was making good progress towards recovery. A marked change in her condition being after an attack of nausea, when she emitted an object which it was believed was a lizard…

A lizard? I don’t think so.What about a snake? No, probably not. But, I shared another story from 1885 where a man supposedly threw up ‘snakes’ several times. They thought it was because he accidentally swallowed snake eggs while drinking from a spring.

Snakes? I don’t think so.

In this case, it was probably some kind of parasite, right? Perhaps a tape worm?

But, what about my great, great grandmother and the lizard?

I found another story about a woman vomiting up a lizard. And, this article at “Unexplained Research” describes the lizard:

The lizard, if it is such, is light brown in appearance and is somewhat translucent. It is the opinion of Mrs. Sieger that her mother accidentally swallowed the lizard in some water when it was very small, and that it had grown in her stomach to its present length of six inches.

I’m pretty sure both of these “lizards” had to be some kind of parasite. I did some research trying to determine what kind of parasite might be mistaken for a lizard. So far, I haven’t found anything.

This event must have been traumatic for my great, great grandmother who was almost 70 at the time. And disturbing those around her. As for me? I’m hoping I don’t have nightmares tonight… not only from her story but from looking at photos of parasites. Gross!

Do we have ancestors in common? If so, I’d love to talk! Please email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net.