[=Notice= in examination:—1. _External characters_—position; size; form; adhesions. 2. _Contents_—quantity, color, odor, reaction. _Food_—its nature, degree of digestion. _Blood_—pure or mixed with food; probable source. _Foreign substances_—powders, metallic particles, spirits, fœcal matter, bile, pus, worms. 3. _Mucous membrane_—general condition of; color, soft or firm, rugæ present or absent; thickness at various points; ulcers; their position, size, etc. 4. _Muscular coat_—thickness; visibility of fibres. 5. _Entire walls_—transparency; wounds; perforations; ruptures; weight. 6. _Condition of orifices_—constricted; dilated. _Tumors_—position, size, character, etc.] Few organs of the body are subject to such a variety, or to such early _post-mortem_ changes as the stomach, many of which, being closely simulative of the effects of disease, render a satisfactory examination of this organ, in many instances, very difficult. Therefore, before entering upon an account of the morbid anatomy of the organ, I shall briefly notice those changes which are _post-mortem_ in their origin. The ordinary interval which intervenes between death and a post-mortem examination, is, in most instances, sufficient to seriously change the appearance even of the healthy stomach. Hence our knowledge of the healthy appearance of that organ, at least, previous to the experiments of Dr. Beaumont upon the stomach of Alexis St. Martin, was quite imperfect. =Post-Mortem Changes.= Among those changes taking place after death, which are no evidence of disease during life, may be mentioned: _First._ _Appearances of Congestion._ Very soon after death, or at least within ten or twelve hours, by gravitation of the blood, the same _hypostatic congestion_ will be found in the most dependent portion of the stomach, that is seen in a more marked degree in the lungs, or in the subcutaneous tissues. _Second._ _Coloring of Tissues._ Not unfrequently, the tissue of the stomach will be found strongly tinged by coloring matter of food or medicine, such as the red color of wine or logwood, or the black color of the metallic sulphurets, etc. _Third._ _Change of Shape and Size._ Variations in the shape and size of the stomach from the normal standard, are not unfrequently found after death. It is sometimes found unusually small, apparently from the influence of the _rigor mortis_, the contraction necessarily resulting in increased thickness of the walls. What is known as hour-glass contraction, although sometimes congenital in its origin, is frequently but a manifestation of the _rigor mortis_, when it may be distinguished from the former by inflation. Extreme dilatation, with thinning of the walls, is also sometimes seen, this condition resulting apparently from an absence of the post-mortem contraction.