Few laboratory methods introduced in recent years have attracted such widespread attention throughout medical circles as the so-called Meltzer-Lyon method of biliary drainage. The literature for the last three years includes at least fifty articles on the subject, and the method has been widely used throughout this country, as well as in England and on the Continent. A review of the literature would be of little value, as many of the articles are merely clinical impressions, and are not based on careful investigative work. It may be said, however, that the various articles fall roughly into two groups, those upholding, and those denying the value of duodenal drainage. According to Lyon,1Smithies, Karshner and Oleson,2White,3and others, the method is of great value in the diagnosis and treatment of practically all kinds of biliary tract pathologic changes. Einhorn,4Alvarez,5Cutler and Newton,6and others, on the other hand, believe