After death the contents of the stomach were found in the abdominal cavity, and the esophagus was completely separated from the stomach.

Flint believed the separation was postmortem, and was possibly due to the softening of the stomach by the action of the gastric acids.

In this connection may be mentioned the case reported by Hanford of a man of twenty-three who had an attack of hematemesis and melanema two years before death.

A postmortem was made five hours after death, and there was so much destruction of the stomach by a process resembling digestion that only the pyloric and cardiac orifices were visible.

Hanford suggests that this was an instance of antemortem digestion of the stomach which physiologists claim is impossible.
Nearly all cases of rupture of the stomach are due to carcinoma, ulcer, or some similar condition, although there have been instances of rupture from pressure and distention.