In 1915 a woman came to the surgical service of the Johns Hopkins Hospital for resection of the colon, because of chronic and intractable constipation. Her history was an interesting one. In 1910, she had had an appendical attack followed by an operation for removal of the appendix. A year antedating that time, she had complained of headache in the morning, rather marked flushing and a tendency to gain weight. Two years before the appendectomy, she had noted a good deal of irritability of the intestinal tract and a tendency to diarrhea, having from five to ten stools daily. The diarrhea, however, had stopped, and she had been troubled with constipation for two months preceding the operation. She had had an acute attack of abdominal pain; the appendix was found gangrenous, but drainage was not required. The patient had a slow recovery and her weight, which previous to the operation