75 
in twenty, accused of eatino* dirt ever does so. The f>ther nine to 
nineteen hav^e their abnormal appetites develo])ed in a ditierent 
direction, namely, pickle-eatino-, lemon-siickino*, cotlee-rli(‘wiM<r. rosin- 
chewing, etc. 
Among the articles eaten by these “dirt-eaters,'' various authors 
mention charcoal, chalk, dried mortar, mud, clay, sand, gravel, stoin‘s, 
shells, rotten wood, cloth, garments, paper, tobacco ])ip(‘s, mice, 
young rats, etc. 
It is, 1 believe, an error to attempt to reduce this abnormal habit to 
any one common basis. In general, however, it may ix* stated that 
the alleged “dirt-eating'’ in this country practically represents the 
severe cases of uncinariasis. To attempt to reduce dirt-eating to 
infection with worms, particularly with Uncuutria (Wirricnmu will 
doubtless be thought extreme, more particularly by Northern physi- 
cians. Still the idea is not a new one, and a moment's consideration 
will show that this view is far less extreme than it at tirst appears. 
For an excellent general discussion of dirt-eating, with exbmsivc* 
references to litei*ature, the reader is referred to Le C'ont(‘ (1S45). 
For the purpose of the present paper it will suftice to call attention to 
certain facts and analogies. The habit of eating slate })encils, pap(‘r, 
and other objects by chlorotic girls is more or less commonly known. 
Pregnant women, also, may develop an alniormal appetite, which 
takes different phases, including dirt-eating. It is recorded that the 
Javanese women eat certain dirt in order to ini])rove their appearance. 
In certain localities in tropical America (Orinoco) thi‘ natives eat earth 
during the overtlo\y of the river when they can not ol>tain their regu- 
lar food. Earth eating is said to be common and not injurious in cer- 
tain parts of Africa. According to Saiidwith (lS‘.t4, ]>. b), on the day 
of the maximum high Nile, and the general I'ejoicings thereu})on, the 
town crier, who is on the lookout for backsheesh, [)iH‘sents “teen 
ibliz” (Nile mud) with a lemon to the inhabitants for luck, and many 
of them eat of it. Ih)gs, horses, cattle, hogs, and alligators art* 
recorded as eating chi}’ and sticks. The Alaskan st*als. wheti inf(*cted 
with round worms, eat pebbles. Eh't)hants, wlu*n inft'cted with 
llukes, eat a certain kind of clav until a loos(*ness of tin* bowt*ls is 
produced. I have fre(pi(*ntly h(*ai‘d d\*xas grang(*rs attribntt* tin* 
(l(*ath of cattle to (*ating sand, and in post-mortem t*xaminat ions of 
cattle, shee]^, and goats, in an anemic condition from inti'stinal worms 
(verminous gastritis caused by IhrmnncJms mntort II. Osfrrttn/f^ 
etc., and infection of small intestine with Unrinarin pltaht and 
IJ. radlata)^ 1 have repeatedly notict'd in tin* stomach and int4*stine 
large (juantities of sand; so that the farmers pr<*sent (h*clan*d that (his 
was the cause of death. l)ogs inti'cti'd ^^ith int<*stinal worms eat 
grass. Cats also frecpiently (*at grass, j)robably from tin* sann* cause. 
Children infected with eel worms (,l.sv7//*/.v ! uuihriconU's) uri* known to 
