ABSTRACT
DURING the past five years I have come across a number or patients whose psychic structure differed considerably from that of the usual run of neurotic patients. In calling these patients hungry, I am deliberately choosing a common characteristic on which my observations have centred. Naturally, I cannot hope to introduce two of these patients to you as individuals within the limits of this paper. In fact, the most I can hope for is to describe how I got into theoretical difficulties and reached some tentative conclusions. I shall refer to the patients only to illustrate my points.
