Found in the Museum’s Natural History store, these are certainly two peculiar items.
These two tennis ball sized objects are an extreme kind of hairball and were removed from the stomach of a cow! The scientific name for them is ‘trichobezoar’. ‘Tricho’ means hair. The word ‘bezoar’ refers to a mass of indigestible material found in the digestive system of any animal, including humans. This can be formed from hair, plant material, seeds and even bubblegum.
Lifesaving properties
As any avid Harry Potter fan will know, bezoars are said to have special or even magical properties. They were once believed to be a universal antidote to any poison. However, relying on their effectiveness in real-life is not recommended. People have performed experiments on themselves to test the curative properties of bezoars against poisons. Many have not lived to tell the tale!
Hairballs are quite common in animals that groom themselves using their tongues because the hair is simply swallowed. Cats and dogs rid themselves of hairballs by being sick, and so the bezoars do not often reach a great size. However, it is not uncommon to find very large hairballs in cows as they remain in the digestive system. Humans who suffer from Rapunzel syndrome (which causes them to eat their own hair) will also have trichobezoars that sometimes require surgical removal.
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