FOR MANY years clinicians and pathologists have recognized a distinct relationship between the use of alcohol and the occurrence of pancreatitis.* The literature contains numerous reports of acute pancreatitis following ingestion of alcohol; yet the exact nature of this association and the degree to which it exists are still unknown. This study represents an effort to explore further this association, dealing particularly with the concept that alcohol can cause pancreatitis of varying degrees of severity and that many of these episodes are unrecognized by the clinician. It seems logical that if acute pancreatitis occurs secondary to alcoholism, mild forms of pancreatitis due to alcohol might not be infrequent. This idea was proposed, and investigation was begun by Domalski and Wedge in 1948.8 Since the disease in these patients is not clinically distinguishable from alcoholic gastritis, or is still in a sub-clinical state, it follows that the diagnosis must be