Processes referred to the alimentary and urinary tracts: A qualitative analysis

Describes analytically certain organic processes having origin in the alimentary canal and the uro-genital system. Six men and three women were required to give introspective reports on these processes. The processes were considered complex experiences, reducible under favorable conditions, to various patterns of pressure and pain. The experiences varied individually. Hunger was reduced to a simple pain only by isolating it from appetite. Thirst was considered perceptual and confined to the mouth and throat. Pain was less usual than pressure. It might be present in the throat in thirst, hunger is pain, the most constant of nausea was the same pain as that of hunger; the call to defecation, when intense, involved sharp shooting pains and dull aches; defecation may include stinging sensations at the anus; urination and the call involved aches in the region of bladder and, in the males, bright pain in the penis.