William Beaumont
William Beaumont was a surgeon in the U.S Army who became known as the "Father of Gastric physiology following his research on human digestion. From 1812 until 1815, Beaumont served as an assistant surgeon in the Army during the War of 1812 participating in the Battle of Plattsbugh. After the war ended, he started a private practice in Plattsburgh, New York, but by 1820 Beaumont had rejoined the Army as a surgeon. On June 6, 1822, an employee of the American Fur on Mackinac Island, named Alexis St. Martin, was accidentally shot in the stomach by a discharge of a shotgun loaded with a buck shot from close range that injured his ribs and his stomach. Dr. Beaumont treated his wound, but expected St. Martin to die from his injuries. Despite this dire prediction, St. Martin survived – but with a hole, or fistula, in his stomach that never fully healed. Unable to continue work for the American Fur Company, he was hired as a handyman by Dr. Beaumont. By August 1825, Beaumont had been relocated to Fort Niagara in New York, and Alexis St. Martin had come with him. Beaumont recognized that he had in St. Martin an unusual opportunity to observe digestive processes. Dr. Beaumont began to perform experiments on digestion using the stomach of St. Martin. Most of the experiments were conducted by tying a piece of food t...
