Spontaneous rupture of the stomach is a catastrophe which many surgeons and many more practitioners of other branches of medicine would not include among the possibilities if they were called on to attend a patient presenting the typical picture of this calamity. Of the 30 or more cases reported in the literature, there was not 1 case in which the condition was diagnosed before operation or autopsy; yet the picture is distinctiveand not presented by any other abdominal emergency. The reason for failure to name the accident at fault is undoubtedly lack of knowledge that it can occur. It is so rare that most practitioners have never heard of it and therefore do not list it as one of the possibilities when presented with the problem of diagnosis. This case is presented not only as a contribution to the knowledge of the causes and characteristics of the condition, but also