DRAGSTEDT'S1 report in 1946 on the section of vagus nerves in 54 cases of peptic ulcer with favorable results, similar reports by Grimson,2 Ruffin and co-authors3 concerning 30 cases at Duke University, and by Moore and his associates4 concerning 12 cases at the Massachusetts General Hospital led us to study the problem of resection of vagus nerves, or, as we prefer to call the operation, "gastric neurectomy," from the anatomic, physiologic and chemical standpoint in 40 patients operated on by one of us at the Mayo Clinic up to Jan. 15, 1947 (tables 1 and 2). Only brief reference will be made to 43 additional cases in which operation was performed by other surgeons at the clinic, for they will individually report on their results in detail later. HISTORICAL DATA Denervation of the stomach in the treatment of pain and peptic ulcer is not a new