ABNORMAL EATERS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3112, 7 January 1911, Page 4

ABNORMAL EATERS.

HAIR GLASS, WATCHES, AND SAND AS . UOD. BOY WHO ATE 100 LB. OF MEAT IN 24 HOURS. Extraordinary eccentricities of diet were recorded by Mr AY. -Soltau Eonwick, M.D., in an address delivered at the Institute of Hygiene in London in November, to a select audience of doctors, nurses, and other experts.

Various odd devices, lie said, were resorted to in former days to stimulate a flagging appetite, such as the drinking of spiced wines, the dropping of coins or cold metal down the back, or sometimes a little exercise or gentle altercation was indiliged in between the courses to “settle the food in the stomach.” It became the habit- at a later period to scratch or fondle the lobe of the right ear to stimulate the flow- of gastric juice, as the nerve which supplies this part of the skin lias .a direct connection with the great nerve of the stomach.

Everyone was said to possess the stomach he deserved, and there cmild be no doubt that, within certain limits, our digestions were of our own making. The stomach- was the most educable organ of the body, and one could reduce its activities to a degree which was only just compatible with the preservation of life, or one could' train it to perform twice the amount of work which nature ever intended it to do. An average man at’the age of 50 had consumed about 25 tons of food, but some people easily consumed three times that amount. They never knew when they had had- enough. There was an authentic case of a little girl who had to have a keeper to prevent her from eating the household goods. One day she consumed a raw codfish, several pounds of candles, and a quantity of butter 'before she was caught. A boy, when placed under observation, got through 1001 b. of raw meat in 24 hours. Attempts to cure this insatiable hunger invariably failed. Another lacli who was shut up and kept without food was found to have eaten practicalh' all his. clothing. ‘Many people,” continued l Dr. Fenwick, 1 ’possess an extraordinary relish for common salt. This often has the curious effect of increasing a person’s weight. One young lady who devoured immense quantities of salt would increase as muc-h as ten pounds in weight in twenty-four hours. If you can persuade these people not to take salt so much they get well; if not they die of dropsy. Many girls will devour slate pencils, chalk, and vinegar because nearly all these have at- some time or other beautifying properties.” Through eating meat 011 wliic-h flies or other insects had laid their eggs, or, similarly, green stuff which might contain insects, iieople often harbored! larvae in their stomachs. A wire screen was no real protection for meat, as flies dropped their eggs through it. Eighty examples were recorded in which strange insects and animals had been eaten and lived afterwards. These included booties, frogs, snakes, salamanders, leeches, and the common garden slug. “Young children often acquire abnormal tastes ,and one of the most common of these is paper eating. Hair eating is confined to girls, and a number of instances are on record in which death resulted from the formation of a great ball of hair in the stomach.” Balls of thread, flock, tow, or matting fibre were sometimes found in the stomachs of those who worked with these materials. Substances, too, which wore often taken, in the first instance, for amusement by frequent repetition led to insatiable desire. Thus sword-swallowers, knife-eaters, "lass oh ewer, and the like not only continue their practices for years, but actually got to relish them. The speaker mentioned the case of a seaman who could not resist the temptation to c-hew up and swallow a tumbler after he had drunk its contents and those of two hoys, one of whom ate sand when he could get it, while the other bagged, borrowed, or stole watches in order to swallow them.