The concept of peptidergic neurotransmission in the central nervous system ranks high in contemporary neurobiology. It was first formulated by J. Barry when reporting, in 1954-55, his observation with light microscopy of the existence of "Gomori-positive" synapses in sections of the mammalian brain. However, this important discovery had virtually no impact on the scientific community for about twenty years because of an extremely restrictive definition of "neurosecretion" during this period by the practitioners of the new field known as neuroendocrinology. The rejection of Barry's finding raises numerous epistemological questions; it provides another example of a "premature discovery", such as those of A.A. Berthold (testicular transplant studies) and of J.G. Mendel (artificial plant hybridization) during the last century.