] The patient's rare condition is called pica, a compulsion
] to eat things not normally consumed as food. Its name
] comes from the Latin word for magpie, a bird thought to
] eat just about anything.
]
] Pica can take the form of eating dirt, ashes, chalk,
] hair, soap, toothbrushes, burned matches and many other
] things. Francois once treated a patient who ate forks.
] Most such objects are small enough to pass on their own,
] but some must be removed by doctors.

how have human's survived the evolutionary ladder this long....

CNN.com - Hundreds of coins found in patient's belly - Feb. 18, 2004