What of the next 25 years?

The early history of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract has been reviewed, and the remarkable progress in gastrointestinal surgery over the first 25 years of its existence has been acknowledged. The challenging dimensions of the problems that remain unsolved have been emphasized, and the directions that fruitful research may take in the next quarter century have been suggested. The alimentary tract surgeon will be called upon to adapt to change, and to move into new fields of clinical physiology and surgery. The discoveries and progress to be anticipated in the years to come are vast.