Flat sheet preparations of guinea-pig ileum were stretched circumferentially and the propagation of circular muscle contractions along the preparation was investigated. Slow stretch, at 100 microm s-1, of a 50-mm long flat sheet of intestine, evoked circular muscle contraction orally, which propagated, without decrement, for up to 30 mm. This occurred despite circular muscle shortening being prevented, and in the absence of propulsion of contents. Thus, propagation in this flat sheet preparation could not explained on the basis of neuro-mechanical interactions, as previously proposed. Irrespective of the length of preparations, contraction amplitude decreased significantly in the most aboral 10-15 mm of intestine. This was not due to descending inhibitory pathways, but was associated with interruption of ascending excitatory pathways near the aboral end. Slow waves were not detected in circular muscle cells in any preparation (n=8). Smooth muscle action potentials evoked in circular muscle cells, in the presence of tetrodotoxin (TTX, 0.6 micromol L-1), did not propagate for more than 1 mm in the longitudinal axis. Propagation of circular muscle activity, evoked by slow stretch of flat sheet preparations, reveals the presence of a mechanism other than myogenic spread or the neuro-mechanical interactions previously proposed to account for propagation; the nature of this mechanism remains to be determined.