Arthur Machen

“ Yet no one imagines that the hysterical sensations or disabilities have any existence out of the diseased brain of the sufferer. The strength of the hunger-illusion was conceded; it was not so great, however, as the strength of the hysteria-illusion. "The starving man thinks he wants food; the hysterical woman thinks she has paralysis; the one delusion is as reasonable as the other."
"But let us suppose [Hexton writes] that out of mistaken kindness you are so thoughtless as to gratify the horrible and ridiculous longings of the hunger-maniac. ”

“ It shows in the first place that it is monstrous to defend the habit of eating and drinking because "everybody did it." At one time "everybody" heard Mass. Equally idle was it to quote the names of great men in praise of food and drink; great men had approved the most hideous habits, and the most preposterous beliefs. ”

“ As for material advantage, a frightful food scandal was even then the chief topic of the papers, and pages of the treatise deal with the poisonous adulteration of food and drink, with the dangers that lurk in the very purest products, with the estimated mortality due to the use of milk—a more dangerous beverage than brandy or strong beer. Water, of course, had slain whole armies, had spread plague and pestilence over continents. It would be difficult to say whether opium and its preparations or tea and coffee worked the greatest harm to men. ”

“ Now appeal to the patient and ask him as a reasonable man to tell you how the swallowing of ox-flesh, partially burned, can lead to content or happiness. He will not tell you, he cannot; nor can any one else. It is true that medical men, who have their formulas, just as priests have their creeds, have written many unintelligible volumes concerning nutrition, assimilation, gastric juice, peptones, proteids [note the resemblance between the jargon of medicine and the jargon of theology!] ”

“ He demonstrated the fact that the practice of dining appealed to children and backward races: that young people, savages, and the middle ages were all gluttonous, obsessed by the thought of the banquet. ”

“ He will then tell you that his craving is appeased, that he 'feels better'; a look of contentment may come into his face, not at all unlike the expression of stupid beatitude which may be seen on the faces of the drug-maniac and devotee when their cravings have been satisfied. ”

“ The ancient Mexicans had an odd yearly festival, during which they went into the woods and devoured reptiles, and modern savages believe that to eat of the heart of the lion gives courage. The theory long pervaded medicine, and is perhaps not quite extinct in the medicine of the present day. ”