S INCE Brodie's1 first report, in 1814, on denervation of the stomach, an extensive and confusing literature has appeared. In many instances, in the literature reviewed on this subject the early and late effects of denervation have been confused and the results of section of the gastric nerves of man have been compared indiscriminately with those obtained on lower animals. Different workers have employed operations of different extent, and many investigators, too, have employed gastric neurectomy in the experimental production of peptic ulcer.2 That there is no agreement on even the structure of these nerves, let alone their function, is reflected in recent reports, in one of which the author3 concluded that the vagus nerve is composed of nothing but sympathetic fibers whereas in another4 the authors denied the presence of any sympathetic fibers. In the present study we are concerned chiefly with clarification of the