The Plummer-Vinson syndrome was described by Vinson1 in his recent book on diseases of the esophagus under the title of "hysterical dysphagia." According to him, a primary inability to swallow solid food may be followed by a train of secondary symptoms of more or less severity—anemia, glossitis, splenomegaly and achlorhydria. The dysphagia has a neurotic basis, a fear of choking. There is no organic lesion of the esophagus. A review of the rather voluminous literature shows that in this opinion he is almost alone.
In a recent paper on this syndrome, Cordray2 stated that web formation at the mouth of the esophagus is the cause of the dysphagia. In his brief review of the literature he cited a number of authors as having found various lesions of the mouth of the esophagus which were supposed to have been the important factor in the dysphagia. He did not account for the