RECENTLY, in this country, there has been a revival of interest in the demonstration of mucosal patterns in the stomach and duodenum, as an aid in establishing the normal and abnormal in gastric and duodenal diagnosis. This paper will attempt to demonstrate the possibility of a modification of the sedimentation method, by no means a new idea, but one which represents a slight departure from those used in the past. Historical Note As early as 1897, Raux and Balthgard, apparently independently and contemporaneously with Walter Cannon in this country, first used a bismuth opaque meal in demonstrating the motor phenomena of the stomach. Holzknecht and his group, in 1898, probably saw fluoroscopically the flow of bismuth opaque meals over the gastric rugæ. In 1906, they used a watery suspension of bismuth subnitrate in the preliminary part of the fluoroscopic study of the stomach (10 grams bismuth subnitrate in 50 grams of water, to which was added a tablespoonful of milk sugar). Palpation of the stomach in the erect posture made possible the visualization of the mucosal folds. After this procedure and while the stomach still contained the bismuth suspension, they distended the stomach by having the patient ingest an effervescent mixture of from four to five grams tartaric acid and from five to seven grams of sodium bicarbonate. This they followed by the usual opaque meal, four hundred grams of milk gruel with thirty-five grams of bismuth subnitrate. This examination is detailed because of its resemblance to our own procedure. With the advent of the Snook x-ray transformer, in 1907, and the distinct improvement in visualization due to “stopping” gastric peristalsis, further impetus was given to gastro-intestinal examinations by these methods. Cole, in 1909, demonstrated gastric rugæ by using the principle of sedimentation of bismuth subnitrate from a watery suspension as a special technic. His first films compare very favorably with the more modern methods of examination. Akerlund, in 1921, working with Forssell, whose classic monograph in 1913 laid the fundamentals of the anatomy and physiology of the stomach before the profession, applied the method of the “thin layer” to diagnosis of the duodenal bulb lesions by exerting external pressure to displace all but a thin layer of opaque medium from the bulb. Since then, innumerable observers have contributed both to the relief and thin layer methods, the majority, however, having tended to avoid the principle of sedimentation to demonstrate the rugal pattern. Pribram and Kleiber (1927), Hilpert (1928), and Vallebona (1926) revived the use of barium suspension and air distention. Small amounts of barium suspension were ingested and distributed by manual pressure, then the stomach was distended by air injected through a small tube (Pribram, Kleiber, and Hilpert), or by chemical means (Vallebona).