Most of the diseases of man can be simulated experimentally in animals. Although study of the experimentally induced disease seldom provides complete and unequivocal answers to the problems of the pathogenesis of its spontaneously occurring human counterpart, such studies do give valuable information for understanding human disease processes. This they provide by disclosing basic mechanisms of alteration of structure and function. From these we can frequently make useful hypotheses about the nature of the derangement in human disease. In the example at hand, pancreatitis, all of the major features of the various forms of the human disease can be relatively faithfully mimicked by experimental procedures in animals. This presentation addresses itself to the task of (a) setting forth, insofar as they are known, the basic mechanisms in the pathogenesis of the experimental disease and (b) evaluating critically the possible applicability of these in the human disease. A comprehensive review of