In 1932, a physiologist at the University of Louisville published a short note about a medical student, identified only as A. B. B., who had noticed something strange. During defecation, and sometimes during urination, tears poured down his face. The student was persuaded to keep count. Across 94 days, he recorded 508 separate observations, grading each episode by how much fluid ran onto his cheek. Defecation proved the stronger trigger, averaging 2.2 drops across 86 recorded episodes.
Then the trail went cold for eighty years.
