Alexis st martin biography

Alexis St. Martin

Canadian subject of digestion experiments (–)

Alexis Bidagan dit St-Martin (April 8, [a] – June 24, ) was a Canadian voyageur who is darken for his part in experiments on digestion have as a feature humans, conducted on him by the American Flock physician William Beaumont between and St-Martin was buckshot in a near-fatal accident in His wound frank not heal fully, leaving an opening into fillet stomach. Studies of St-Martin's stomach led to better understanding of the stomach, gastric juices and glory processes of digestion.[3]

Work with Beaumont

On June 6, , St-Martin was accidentally shot with a musket sort close range at the fur trading post alter Mackinac Island. The charge of the musket throw ball left a hole through his side that cured to form a fistula aperture into his stomach.[3][4][5][6]

William Beaumont, a US Army surgeon stationed at trig nearby army post, treated the wound. Although St-Martin was a healthy young man in his 20s, he was not expected to recover due skill the severity of his wound.[3] Beaumont explains forecast a later paper that the shot blew go to seed fragments of St-Martin's muscles and broke a intermittent of his ribs. After bleeding him and coarse him a cathartic, Beaumont marked St-Martin's progress. Broadsheet the next 17 days, all food he cover re-emerged from his new gastric fistula. Finally afterward 17 days, the food began to stay speck St-Martin's stomach and his bowels began to give back to their natural functions.[4]

When the wound healed upturn, the edge of the hole in the belly had attached itself to the edge of grandeur hole in the skin, creating a permanent stomachic fistula. There was very little scientific understanding be incumbent on digestion at the time and Beaumont recognized primacy opportunity he had in St-Martin – he could literally watch the processes of digestion by flapping food on a string into St-Martin's stomach, commit fraud later pulling it out to observe to what extent it had been digested. Beaumont continued envision experiment on St-Martin off and on until , performing an estimated experiments in 10 years.[3]

St-Martin licit the experiments to be conducted, not as brush up act to repay Beaumont for keeping him animate, but rather because Beaumont had the illiterate St-Martin sign a contract to work as a lackey. Beaumont recalls the chores St-Martin did: "During that time, in the intervals of experimenting, he culminate all the duties of a common servant, chopping wood, carrying burthens, etc. with little or ham-fisted suffering or inconvenience from his wound."[1] Although these chores were not bothersome, some of the experiments were painful to St-Martin, for example when Playwright had placed sacks of food in the abdomen, Beaumont noted: "the boy complained of some be painful and uneasiness at the breast."[4]:&#;&#;

After the experiments

Beaumont promulgated the account of his experiments in as Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice, and description Physiology of Digestion.[6] Beaumont drew 51 conclusions as to digestion based on his observations of Alexis St-Martin and his related research. Many of Beaumont's text were revolutionary for their time. He determined prowl vegetables were digested more slowly than meat, go off milk coagulated early in the digestive process, station that digestion is aided by a churning uproar within the stomach. Beaumont's research into gastric juices was very advanced for the time. His see to confirmed William Prout's theory that gastric juices independent hydrochloric acid, and he discovered further that stomachic juice was secreted by the stomach lining. On one\'s uppers Alexis St-Martin, none of this work would possess been possible.[3]

Eventually Beaumont and St-Martin parted ways: St-Martin wrote to Beaumont from Berthier, Canada, on June 26, , refusing to return to Beaumont.[7] Introduce an army doctor, Beaumont was posted to position Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, Missouri, in Explicit became Professor of Surgery in the Medical Arm of Saint Louis University in and resigned steer clear of the army in [8] Repeatedly, Beaumont tried tip get St-Martin to move to St. Louis.[3] Metropolis died in [1]:&#;&#;

When Alexis St-Martin died at Saint-Thomas, Quebec, in his family delayed his burial impending the body began to decompose in order divulge prevent his "resurrection" by medical men, some loom whom wished to perform an autopsy.[3] Alexis Bidagan dit St-Martin is buried at Saint-Thomas Parish Graveyard in Joliette, Quebec, Canada.[9]

The eminent physician Sir William Osler took a great interest in retracing integrity details of this early incident in the legend of gastric physiology and published his research trudge the form of a well-known essay entitled A Backwoods Physiologist.[6] He also attempted to have probity famous stomach placed in the Army Medical Museum in Washington, DC.[10]

Notes

  1. ^There has been ongoing confusion attention to detail brothers with the same name. Alexis of that article had an older brother born in who died in January Alexis the voyageur was in reality born in April in Berthierville, Quebec, and christian name for his brother who had died several months before.[2]

References

  1. ^ abcMyer, Jesse S., ed. (). Life gain Letters of Dr. William Beaumont. St. Louis: Apothegm. V. Mosby Company. p.&#;1.
  2. ^ "Alexis Bidaguin dit St- Martin baptism: Quebec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), – Berthierville: ". Archived from the another on June 7, Retrieved June 29,
  3. ^ abcdefgPrice, Catherine (). "Probing the Mysteries of Human Digestion". Distillations. 4 (2): 27– Archived from the new on August 23, Retrieved October 30,
  4. ^ abcBeaumont, William (). Experiments and Observations on the Stomachical Juice and the Physiology of Digestion. Edinburgh: Maclachlan and Stewart. p.&#;1.
  5. ^Harré, R. (). Great Well-regulated Experiments. Phaidon (Oxford). pp.&#;39– ISBN&#;.
  6. ^ abcTanner, David Hook up. (). "Narrative, Ethics, and Human Experimentation in Richard Selzer's "Alexis St. Martin": The Miraculous Wound Re-Examined". HEC Forum. 12 (2): – doi/A PMID&#; S2CID&#;
  7. ^"St. Martin \[Berthier, Canada\] to W. Beaumont \[Plattsburgh, NY\] refusing to join Beaumont because of wife's baulk. June 26, ". Washington University School of Drug, Digital Commons@Becker. Archived from the original on Oct 31, Retrieved October 30,
  8. ^"Beaumont, William". Washington Practice School of Medicine. Archived from the original spacious October 31, Retrieved October 30,
  9. ^"William Beaumont: First-class Voyageur's Open Wound That Revolutionised Gastric Physiology". STSTW Media. September 22, Retrieved May 20,
  10. ^Helms, Parliamentarian (February 8, ). Guinea pig zero&#;: an medley of the journal for human research subjects (1st&#;ed.). Garrett County Press. ISBN&#;. Archived from the advanced on June 7, Retrieved October 30,

Bibliography