Page:The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis II 1921 3-4.djvu/25

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Wm - '• A MAN'S UNCONSCIOUS PHANTASY OF PREGNANCV 279

"^ a person run over. Anyhow, he finds it intolerable to see animals

die, and especially their failing glance, and people tortured by pain (the memory of childbirth observed as a child).

This does not quite conclude the account of the sphere of anal-erotic tendencies. They were able to make considerable con- tributions to an organ which is inherently responsive in this direc- tion, namely the mouth. His phantasies indicating oral libido-

I fixation suggested not only a surprisingly extensive distribution,

but were also capable of interpretations from several cispects ; and their critical introduction into the general scheme of tlae neurosis caused no little trouble. The pregnancy phantasy served as a sign-post. When he was hardly more than five years old a curious selective inhibition of appetite appeared, having reference partic- ularly to strong smelling dishes, and this reached a real idiosyncrasy persisting to this day in the case, for instance, of onions. He cannot stand them in any form, and if by chance a minute speck

I of onion comes into contact with his gums, he reacts with violent

and repeated retching. I could only understand this irresistible distaste when I heard where the patient laid emphasis in des- cribing it. The Hungarian for the plant is literally 'onion-germ' {hagymacsir). Evidently the notion of something alive included in this conception had a mighty eifect in bringing about the forma- tion of the idiosyncrasy. Its unconscious basis appeared to be an infantile phantasy of oral fertilisation, which is constantly to be found supplementing anal birth theories. In this connection, there- fore must be taken the patient's presuming the origin of his ill- ness to be due to swallowing something unpalatable or harmful fa splinter of enamel from a saucepan). He is afraid moreover of being poisoned (a familiar dream symbol of pregnancy : in one of his dreams a fungus appeared as penis symbol). A year after I ^g onset of the idiosyncrasy to onions, our patient discovered

that he had a peculiar ability as a function of his stomach which may be described as chewing the cud. He could easily swallow buttons or small marbles, such as children use for toys, and then regurgitate them into his mouth. After a satisfying meal he could even bring up chunks of meat that he had gulped down whole, piece by piece, in order by degrees to give them a subsequent chewino-. Water that he had drunk, could be spurted back in a stream. Such infantile inclinations concealed in part tendencies to coprbphagia (buttons and marbles are exquisite faeces-