A gunshot wound that left an opening in a man’s stomach provided a unique opportunity to observe and understand the process of digestion.
This patient, a fur trapper named Alexis St. Martin, not only advanced the knowledge of digestion but also introduced a transformative approach to studying the human body, as highlighted in recent research.
This method marked a shift in medical science:
“People realized this was a revolutionary approach to doing physiology and medicine. Data is collected on the clinical patient, and then conclusions are drawn.”
Richard Rogers, a neuroscientist at the Pennington Biomedical Research Institute in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Prior to this shift, medical practitioners typically relied on ancient theories, such as those of Galen, often formed 1,600 years prior, to diagnose patients or explain bodily functions without firsthand observation. These insights were shared at the Experimental Biology 2013 conference in Boston on April 23.
A Severe Injury
On June 6, 1822, Alexis St. Martin, an employee of the American Fur Company on Mackinac Island, was accidentally shot in the stomach at close range by the discharge of a shotgun loaded with buckshot that injured his ribs and his stomach. His wound was treated by Dr. William Beaumont, but it was expected that St. Martin would succumb to his injuries. Despite this grim prognosis, St. Martin survived, albeit with a persistent fistula in his stomach. Unable to resume his work for the American Fur Company, he was employed as a servant by Dr. Beaumont.
By August 1825, Dr. Beaumont had been relocated to Fort Niagara in New York, and St. Martin accompanied him. Dr. Beaumont recognized the extraordinary opportunity presented by St. Martin’s condition to observe digestive processes in real time. A series of experiments were conducted, involving the insertion of food into St. Martin’s stomach through the fistula, followed by periodic removal to assess the stage of digestion. Additionally, samples of gastric acid were extracted from St. Martin’s stomach for analysis. In September, St. Martin left Dr. Beaumont and moved to Canada, but was subsequently apprehended to continue his role as a subject of study.
Samples of gastric acid extracted from St. Martin were utilized by Dr. Beaumont to demonstrate the pivotal role of stomach acid in digestion, rather than solely mechanical grinding. This led to the groundbreaking discovery that digestion is primarily a chemical process, not a mechanical one.
From 1826 to 1827, Dr. Beaumont was stationed at Fort Howard in Green Bay, Wisconsin. By 1828, he was transferred to St. Louis, Missouri, and St. Martin was once again summoned to serve at Fort Crawford in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. In early 1831, a new series of experiments was conducted by Dr. Beaumont to explore the influence of factors such as temperature, exercise, and emotions on the digestive process.
In 1838, the findings of Dr. Beaumont’s experiments were published in “Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice, and the Physiology of Digestion.” Subsequently, Dr. Beaumont and St. Martin parted ways, with Dr. Beaumont eventually returning to St. Louis and St. Martin returning to Quebec. Despite repeated attempts over the next two decades to persuade St. Martin to relocate to St. Louis, this endeavor was ultimately unsuccessful.
A Transformative Approach
This research marked a shift toward modern physiology, where observations drive conclusions rather than the reverse. Beaumont’s work further inspired some of the earliest controlled animal studies; physiologists soon recognized the benefits of performing similar fistula procedures in animals for accelerated insights.
Among those influenced by Beaumont was the renowned Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, who applied fistula techniques in dogs. Pavlov’s studies on digestion led to his famous findings in classical conditioning, revealing how dogs could be trained to salivate on cue.
Despite his early ordeal, St. Martin went on to live to age 83, returning to fur trapping before eventually becoming a farmer.
