For years the experiments of Pawlow1and his school seemed to be the last word in the study of digestion, and the results which they obtained on dogs with fistulas and lesser sacs were unqualifiedly applied to man. With the exception of comparatively isolated instances such as that of Alexis St. Martin and others, the only information regarding the human stomach was obtained by means of the stomach-tube and Roentgen-ray examinations. Owing to the bulk of the stomach-tube and the marked discomfort occasioned by its use, it was impossible to follow the whole cycle of digestion and estimate step by step the exact changes which took place in the stomach after the introduction of a definite stimulus such as various foods. It is true that Hayem2was tireless in the application of the tube and attempted to remove specimens at intervals; but the irregularity of these periods and