Physiology

Beaumont, William, 1785-1853
Experiments and observations on the gastric juice, and the physiology of digestion.
Boston : Lilly, Wait and Company, 1834.

This is the first edition of the book Beaumont wrote about his studies of digestion in his patient with a gastric fistula. Alexis St Martin was a fur trapper who had been injured in a firearm accident. Beaumont was the US Army doctor quartered nearby and, although his surgery saved St Martin's life, closure of the gastric fistula was never achieved. Doctor and patient collaborated (and argued) and the findings were limited by the lack of any chemical analyses, yet the studies are a landmark in the history of gastroenterology.

RB 9734.7