We describe a patient in whom Hodgkin's disease affecting the mesenteric lymph nodes was discovered incidentally at laparotomy for carcinoma of the colon. The occurrence of Hodgkin's disease and colon carcinoma in the same patient is rare, as is Hodgkin's disease in the mesenteric lymph nodes. In cases in which Hodgkin's disease is discovered incidentally at laparotomy, staging is usually done by using computerized tomography and lymphangiographic studies.