, 1877-03-25
sssSAKES IN THE sTON1ACH.''

DR., y. E. Macdonald, Medical Superintendent
Of the Wards Island Insane Asylum and Fro
fessor in tho Medical Department of the Uni
yersity Of New York, referred in his lecture yes.
terlay to the story recently printed in the
Horld Of Il colorcd girl in Harlem who claims
to hare live load or lizard in her stomach Lie
began by speaking of the different forms of
mental depression, Of the delusions OF lnaniacs
and mela1icllolacs, and especially Of the de-
lusions Of persecution illness, aud il-trcatment.
With mclanc1loliac5 Iclusions Of the body arc
very COMMON. 4 patient On Wards Island
believes lie has been killed three times; another
insists that his head has turned to china, and
is careful not to run the risk OF breaking
it; a third believes lie has been changed
into wax, and will not sit i'll the sun for fear
Of melting. Some believe they have rats or
woodcocks in their ston,tciis Others believe
that they animals, and their fancies taking
form they will go :aaout OIL I'LL to1rs. The lee
turcr told Of one ot his patients who believes
himself to be horse, and wants to eat grass; +;
he has made himself Il tail, and turns out iu the
morning with the other horses, harnesses him.
sell to Il cart, and works like 4 uuadruped. The
Professor also knew Of :: female patient who be-
1icYcd herself Il bird, aud nearly broke her neck
iii attempting, to fly.
''The bcilcf in the eltrance OF animals into
the body,;' continues DR.. Macdonald, sis an
other form oI melanciiolia. Such is, no doubt,
the case Of the eolored girl in Harlem, who is
reported to have I toad in htr stomach. This
belief is probably form OF lystcria-all the
more probable bacause the person is a coforeu
girl, and first experienced this idea after
religious meeting. She says she must have
swallowed the animal at 4 Suday-sclool picnic.
The physician who mas been advertising himself
in this ease seems to forget that j toad needs
air to live on US well Us other animals. uc says
that this cannot be case Of hystcr;a because it
has lasted three years; yet NC all kn"w that
such cases often lust that time. A somewhat
some time ago. A lady believed she had toad
i'll her stomach, and grew very i'll In consc-
qucncc. Her physician, after vanly cndcavor-
ing to coax her out OF tile idea, gave ller Ill
cmctir, and, while sAc was vomiting, dexter
ously slipped toad into the basin aud called
hcr intention to it. Fora time she was cured,
but few weeks later SHE had the same symp-
TOMS US before, and insisted that the toad must
have given birth to SOME young ones, which
were still III her stomach The doctor, however,
persuaded her that this could not he the case,
since the animal she had thrown up was-a
male. This effected permanent cure"
DIR. Macdonald Then called upon the stage,
one by one, eight paticnts hc had brought with
him from the INSANE Asylum and, l.y skillfu1
questions. elected from them accounts Ut their
supposed disorders. One said: 9! have been
on the island ten years. God Almighty sent
me up. don't know Why, except that acted
and had bad thoughts and tculpta-
tions to wrong-tloing. I will not take a bath
because am afraid OF wasting away" An old
1rislnau said: =" ! was sent up because my mind
was not right. I thought was coming to the
city to be Killed. The Doctor explained that
this subject Claims to have belonged to the
Grand Order of Accepted Bakers aud to nave
betrayed the password, wherefore he is in mo-
mentary dread OF being killed. a tiniid-looking
little man said: II have got doctor in my
stomach; he has been there twenty years.
ran feel him; here he IS quitting his hand OIL
the pit of his stomach); have got my hand on
his shoulder" Another patient said lie was
'stllcd up with witchcraft anu consumption in
the hcasl.'' Another believed he had been
robbed of his heart aud lungs. Another, suf-
fcrinc from hallucination Of fear, believed he
WAS followed by band Of assassins. who were,
even while he was speaking, under the floor of
the lecture-room. The last said he was not in
sane, but they were trying to make him SO, and
be had been bitten by al1:gators and snakes. In
conclusion DR.. Macdonald called the attention
Of tho students to the fact that hallucinations
sucl, as that Of the Harlem girl are very cou-
mon, and are usually the result Of some painful
internal disease. In tho, cases OF some sufferers
post morteln examinations have revealed the
existence 0: cancer in the parts supposed to be
by animals.