The problem of preventing death from the direct or indirect effects of gastrointestinal hemorrhage in cases of portal hypertension has taxed the wits of the medical profession over the years. That esophageal varices, the result of collateral blood flow via the coronary-esophageal vein circuit, constitute the danger site is COMmon knowledge. Progress has been made in the emergency handling of hematemesis, the result of bleeding from esophageal varices. Prompt transfusion and the establishment of esophageal tamponage are the surest ways of saving a life in this emergency. A satisfactory method1of balloon tamponage which is well tolerated by the average patient has been achieved. The esophageal baloonnasogastric tube assembly may be procured from the Davol Rubber Company, Providence, R. I. Emergency measures notwithstanding, patients with portal hypertension live under a constant threat of death. Patek,2in reviewing 124 patients with Laennec's cirrhosis who had received the modern medical