Attention has recently been directed to the observation that some patients with Hodgkin's disease experience pain following the ingestion of alcohol. Hoster, who recorded this symptom in 1950, emphasized that the pain occurred immediately after the ingestion of small amounts of alcoholic beverages.1Other authors have described this symptom in 27 additional patients.2-12These reports, with a few exceptions,6,8,10were based upon the patients' histories, without objective confirmation of the symptom. Analysis of these cases reveals that the pain may occur at the site of an osseous or lymphatic lesion anywhere in the body. It may be so severe that alcohol ingestion is carefully avoided. A wide variety of wines, beers, whiskies, and mixed drinks has been implicated, indicating that ethanol is the ingredient responsible for the pain. This is substantiated by the fact that intravenously administered ethyl alcohol caused pain in one patient.11The pain