STRUCTURE IN DIFFRACTION SCATTERING INSIDE t absolute value approximately4m/sub $pi$/ .

Through generalized $t$-channel unitarity relations we argue that in a diffractive picture, it is unlikely for the high-energy elastic forward peak to be of a simple exponential form. The threshold behavior near the $2\ensuremath{\pi}$ branch point suggests that the diffraction slope will continuously increase with decreasing $|t|$ in the very forward direction.