he
pregnant wife of a farmer in Hassfort-on-the-Main ate the excrement of
her husband.

Many instances could be quoted, some in which extreme cases of
polydipsia and bulimia developed; these can be readily attributed to
the increased call for liquids and food. Other cases of diverse new
emotions can be recalled, such as lasciviousness, dirty habits,
perverted thoughts, and, on the other hand, extreme piety, chastity,
and purity of the mind. Some of the best-natured women are when
pregnant extremely cross and irritable and many perversions of
disposition are commonly noticed in pregnancy. There is often a
longing for a particular kind of food or dish for which no noticeable
desire had been displayed before.

Maternal Impressions.--Another curious fact associated with pregnancy
is the apparent influence of the emotions of the mother on the child in
utero. Every one knows of the popular explanation of many birth-marks,
their supposed resemblance to some animal or object seen by the mother
during pregnancy, etc. The truth of maternal impressions, however,
seems to be more firmly established by facts of a substantial nature.
There is a natural desire to explain any abnormality or anomaly of the
child as due to some incident during the period of the mother's
pregnancy, and the truth is often distorted and the imagination heavily
drawn upon to furnish the satisfactory explanation. It is the customary
speech of the dime-museum lecturer to attribute the existence of some
"freak" to an episode in the mother's pregnancy. The poor
"Elephant-man" firmly believed his peculiarity was due to the fact that
his mother while carrying him in utero was knocked down at the circus
by an elephant. In some countries the exhibition of monstrosities is
forbidden because of the supposed danger of maternal impression. The
celebrated "Siamese Twins" for this reason were forbidden to exhibit
themselves for quite a period in France.

We shall cite only a few of the most interesting cases from medical
literature. Hippocrates saved the honor of a princess, accused of
adultery with a negro because she bore a black child, by citing it as a
case of maternal impression, the husband of the princess having placed
in her room a painting of a negro, to the view of which she was
subjected during the whole of her pregnancy. Then, again, in the
treatise "De Superfoetatione" there occurs the following distinct
statement: "If a pregnant woman has a longing to e