Examining the follow-up and autoptic data on 133 patients who died from pulmonary hemorrhage in the presents of respiratory diseases, including tuberculosis has revealed a previously undescribed a phenomenon of the presence of blood varying in its pattern and volume in the proximal and distal gastrointestinal tract. The clinical and anatomic assessment of the phenomenon detected and its value in the patho- and thanatogenesis of asphyxial pulmonary hemorrhages are given. It is concluded that asphyxial hemorrhages do not develop suddenly, but they result from pulmonary hemorrhages lasting 1-2 days or more, wherein the patients digest great volumes of blood. The digesting of blood rather than its coughing away is observed in patients with mental disorders, during a deep or abnormal sleep, and in the agonal period of asphyxia. The paper shows the significance of the revealed phenomenon as a constituent of total blood loss and a cause of undiagnosed pulmonary hemorrhage in 24% of dead individuals.