In 1859, von Rokitansky1 described two forms of softening of the stomach, one a gelatinous softening said to occur in infants and a second form occurring both in children and in adults. The description in each case suggests that the processes are similar. In describing the former he said: It appears to be a metamorphosis—a softening—of the mucous membrane of the fundus, which extends to the muscular coat and the peritoneum converting them and the intervening interstitial cellular tissue into a grayish or grayish-red transparent jelly with a yellowish tinge, through which single dark brown streaks, the broken down blood vessels, are observed to pass.... The softened portion of the stomach tears at the slightest touch; it dissolves between the fingers, and perhaps in rare cases these rents occur during life, but probably oftener after death, giving rise to effusion of the gastric contents into the abdominal cavity. The