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This has been called "esophagismus," and is apparently closely allied to this neurosis, which some have called "merycism." The President of the Association said that this would seem to be an affection common among physicians. A student friend of his who had been affected in this way, had written an elaborate monograph on the subject.
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.
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.
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. 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.
Bartholinus, Paullinus, Blanchard, Bonet, the Ephemerides, Fabricius Hildanus, Horstius, Morgagni, Peyer, Rhodius, Vogel, Salmuth, Percy, Laurent, and others describe it. Fabricius d'Aquapendente personally knew a victim of rumination, or, as it is generally called, merycism. The dissection by Bartholinus of a merycol showed nothing extraordinary in the cadaver.
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.
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