SUPPLEMENT TO 1997
PROXY STATEMENT
THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY
Dear Dow Stockholder:
On March 26, 1997, the proxy statement for The Dow Chemical
Company Annual Meeting to be held on May 15, 1997, was sent to
you. The section entitled Stockholder Return on page 19 showed
two graphs. They depicted the value of hypothetical investments
of $100 each in Dow common stock, in the Standard & Poor's 500
Stock Index and in the Standard & Poor's Chemical Composite
Index, for periods of five years and ten years after investment.
The Company has just learned that some of the data in the five-
year and ten-year charts were not correctly presented. The
computations were to assume that all dividends payable were
reinvested in stock. Such dividend reinvestment was reflected in
the values shown for Dow stock, but the values for the two
comparative indices inadvertently failed to take into account
such dividend reinvestment.
Shown on the reverse side are the corrected charts that show
dividend reinvestment for all three hypothetical investments.
If you wish to receive duplicate proxy material previously mailed
to you, you may call Dow's transfer agent at 1-800-DOW(369)-5606
or (617)575-3899.
/s/ John Scriven
Vice President
General Counsel and Secretary April 25, 1997
<PAGE>
UPPER CHART
FIVE-YEAR
CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN
DOW S&P CHEMICALS S&P 500
1991 $100.00 $100.00 $100.00
1992 $111.35 $109.51 $107.62
1993 $115.43 $122.47 $118.47
1994 $142.08 $141.78 $120.03
1995 $154.54 $185.20 $165.14
1996 $179.02 $244.67 $203.06
Source: The Carson Group
LOWER CHART
TEN-YEAR
CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN
DOW S&P CHEMICALS S&P 500
1986 $100.00 $100.00 $100.00
1987 $157.52 $116.94 $105.10
1988 $158.13 $124.83 $122.56
1989 $199.33 $161.18 $161.40
1990 $139.92 $136.86 $156.39
1991 $165.99 $178.48 $204.04
1992 $184.82 $195.46 $219.59
1993 $191.60 $218.58 $241.73
1994 $235.83 $253.05 $244.92
1995 $256.52 $330.56 $336.96
1996 $297.15 $436.70 $414.33
Source: The Carson Group
These charts do not reflect the Company's forecast of future
financial performance. Stockholders are cautioned against
drawing any conclusions from the data contained therein, as past
results are not necessarily indicative of future performance.