These are even rarer than the preceding, and consist of undigested vegetable material, fruit skins, cherry stalks, or the fibrous roots of certain plants which had been swallowed on account of their reputed medicinal virtues.

Except that they occur at a somewhat later period of life, the symptoms are similar to those already noted. For several years there is complaint of pain and vomiting after food, with loss of appetite, emaciation, and an irregular action of the bowels. Occasionally haematemesis and cachexia are also observed. The tumour is seldom as large as a hair-ball, and is usually globular in shape and situated in the epigastrium. As a rule death ensues from perforation of the stomach, haemorrhage, or exhaustion, but occasionally the foreign body undergoes disintegration and is either vomited or evacuated by the bowel.