ONE OF the obstacles encountered in a study of the physiology of gastric secretion is the difficulty of subjecting the normal stomach to the physiologic stimulus of food and making a quantitative collection of the gastric secretory output. In an attempt to simplify and control the many factors present, recourse has been made to various types of gastric pouches, fistulas and other preparations made with aseptic precautions in anesthetized animals. In most cases these preparations have proved compatible with survival in good health and with relative freedom from discomfort. Our present understanding of the mechanism of gastric secretion is largely dependent on these facts. Beaumont was the real pioneer in recognizing and utilizing surgical intervention as a method for the study of gastric physiology. The gastric fistula method in man used by him was subsequently employed with great advantage by Carlson1 and, more recently, by Wolf and Wolff.2