This paper is an extension of previous work done by Dr. Mahl. In this study, which the authors describe as crude, an effort is made to study the hydrochloric acid secretion and emotional state simultaneously in two patients undergoing psychoanalytic treatment. The authors describe their methods and results; they recognize the limitations of their physiological and psychological studies and of their judgments about them. The data show that anxiety, regardless of its origin, is accompanied by increased hydrochloric acid secretion. Anxiety, therefore, rather than oral dependency or some specific conflict, is the basis of peptic ulcer. Dr. Franz Alexander in his discussion of this paper states that Mahl misinterprets both his own material and the theory of the role of frustration of oral dependency. Dr. Alexander believes that the material presented by Mahl and Karpe confirms his theories.