5. After the glass delusion came the ‘cement delusion’, when people thought they were made of the new and wondrous construction material
Interestingly, the belief that the glass delusion was caused by a fear of the unknown – in this case when glass was new and seen as wondrous or even magical – is lent further weight by the rise of the “cement delusion” of the 19th century. Again, cement was a new material, being used everywhere for construction. Physicians in London and across Europe recorded instances of patients believing their limbs were made from cement! And, once again, these soon disappeared when cement was no longer so new and mysterious.
