est honey. The patient related that
from his infancy he had been the subject of acid eructations, and at
the age of thirty he commenced rumination as a means of relief. To
those who are interested in the older records of these cases Percy and
Laurent offer the descriptions of a number of cases.

In a recent discussion before the American Neurological Association
Hammond defined merycism as the functions of remastication and
rumination in the human subject. He referred to several cases, among
them that of the distinguished physiologist, Brown-Sequard, who
acquired the habit as a result of experiments performed upon himself.
Hammond reported a case of a young man who was the subject of merycism,
and whose mental condition was also impaired. No special treatment was
undertaken, but the patient was trephined, with the purpose of
improving his mental condition. There were no unusual features
connected with the operation, but it was noticed that there were no
ruminations with the meals he took until the fifth day, when a slight
rumination occurred. Eight days later a similar button was removed from
the corresponding side of the left skull, and from that time (about six
months) to the time of report, there had been no regurgitation. Whether
the cure of the merycism in this case was directly due to the
operations on the cranium, or the result of the mental improvement, is
a question for discussion. Hammond added that, when acquired, merycism
was almost invariably the result of over-eating and loading the
esophagus, or the result of fast eating.

In remarks upon Hammond's paper Knapp said that two cases had come to
his knowledge, both in physicians, but one of them he knew of only by
hearsay. The other man, now over thirty, had regurgitated his food from
early childhood, and he did not know that he had anything very unusual
the matter with him until he began some investigations upon the
functions and diseases of the stomach. This man was not nervous, and
was certainly not an idiot. He had done active work as a physician, and
called himself in perfect health. He was something of an epicure, and
never suffered from indigestion. After a hearty meal the regurgitation
was more marked. Food had been regurgitated, tasting as good as when
first eaten, several hours after the eating. If he attempted to check
the regurgitation he sometimes had a slight feeling of fulness in the
stomach. Lloyd said that these cases were forms of neuroses,