The successful treatment of essential hypertension by the use of many different drugs and methods of treatment has been reported at least two hundred1times in the last decade. However, the constant employment of new drugs and methods, which usually are discarded after a brief popularity, and the continued mortality associated with arterial hypertension, indicate that the proper treatment of essential hypertension is still unknown. Progress toward successful treatment may be aided by analyzing the reported results, in order to recognize common fallacies that may be responsible for these numerous though short-lived claims. By such an analysis, I believe I have identified fallacies which are apparently little understood or generally disregarded, and which seem to concern the interpretation of therapeutic results. These fallacies will be discussed from the standpoint of (1) the symptoms and (2) the elevated blood pressure. The present paper deals primarily with the symptoms. ANALYSIS OF