METHODS, VALUE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GASTRIC CONTENTS.

I think it will be admitted that instrumental and laboratory examinations with reference to the stomach are unduly neglected in practice. The reasons for this are similar to those that cause the neglect of other diagnostic manipulations—technical difficulties, real and imaginary, and erroneous views as to clinical value. Many fail to make examinations of stomach contents solely because they think the passage of the stomach tube is difficult and often objected to by the patieut. Contrary to this view, I find very few people who require any persuasion and still fewer who offer serious verbal or physical difficulty. Out of many thousands examined, I have encountered only two people in whom I could not successfully use the stomach tube at the first trial. I am not considering, of course, the very important contraindications to the use of the tube (necessary to remember in every case), or real obstructions to the