The Prisoner required unusual research and several trips beneath the city streets to trample sewers in a bid to garner a whiff of the atmosphere. Unknown to me at the time, several enterprising young men offered guided sewer tours in Barcelona, Rome, London and Paris. During a particularly obnoxious sojourn I learned of a hairball legend I later used on one of the Prisoner scenes:
“A friend told me about giant hairballs clogging the sewers under the city streets.”Laurel reached for his hand. “Hairballs?”“It seems that over the decades, strands of hair molted by millions of citizens have built up.”Lukas checked his watch again and stepped closer.“You’re joking,” Laurel said.“I’m not. Lacquered by grease and dirt, tons of hairs have formed huge furry, knotted boulders that swell all the time and trundle though the sewers.”
After countless hours poring over hard-to-get sewer data I failed to confirm the hairball’s existence, an otherwise intriguing proposition, but discovered unexpected treasures in the unlikeliest of places:
Irish medical journal June 1992 volume 85 no 274
Qureshi. Nh; Morris. K; McDevitt. D.
Dept of Surgery, Sligo General Hospital, Co Sligo
Bezoars are repulsive bundles of hair, vegetable fibers, or food that form in the stomachs of humans (and animals). Incredibly, Queen Elizabeth I had a bezoar included in her crown jewels. Sometimes bezoars become large enough to cause trouble. One woman chewed her hair enough for a bezoar to form; it was large enough that it had to be surgically removed.
The complications of bezoar formation can be classified into two categories; mechanical and traumatic. The mechanical complications are obstruction and ileus. Obstruction of gastric outlet or intestinal obstruction is caused by either small broken off pieces or through long string like extensions of the main mass going in certain cases up to ileo-caecal valve or even transverse colon giving it the legendary name of 'Rapunzel Syndrome'.
Cases of trichobezoars should be seen as ones who have some underlying emotional stress leading to trichophagy. Although trichophagia is not frequently related to full blown neuro-psychiatric disturbance but it is said that the trait represents a personality disorder analogous to the finger nail biting.
I agree with the learned authors; ‘Rapunzel Syndrome’ truly is a legendary name.
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