The Cleveland Medical Gazette, Vol. 1, No. 4, February 1886

In this historic lecture, a Viennese professor walks listeners through the puzzling problem of stomach ulcers as understood in the late 19th century. Translated for American physicians, the address blends anatomical observation with early experimental work, revealing why many cases slip unnoticed in the clinic but appear at autopsy. The speaker frames the condition as a self‑digestion of gastric tissue, coining the term peptic ulcer to unify a confusing list of older names.

He then surveys the competing theories of his day—Virchow’s embolic hypothesis, Cohnheim’s circulation experiments, and Pavy’s alkaline‑blood idea—illustrating each with animal studies that produced striking, well‑defined ulcers when blood flow was interrupted. The lecture stresses that adequate vascular supply usually prevents ulceration, yet anemia or fatty degeneration can tip the balance toward disease. Although the speaker acknowledges that many questions remain, the presentation offers a vivid snapshot of medical reasoning before modern acid‑suppression therapy.