In Frontier Doctor, Reginald Horsman provides the first modern,
scholarly biography of a colorful backwoods doctor whose pioneering
research on human digestion gained him international renown as a
physiologist. Before William Beaumont's work, there was still
considerable controversy as to the nature of human digestion; his
research established beyond a doubt that digestion is a chemical
process.
Beaumont received his medical training as an apprentice in a
small town in Vermont and served as a surgeon's mate in the War of
1812. After the war, he practiced in Plattsburgh, New York, before
making his career as an army surgeon. His chance for fame came in
1822, when he was serving at the lonely post of Fort Mackinac in
Michigan Territory. A Canadian voyageur--Alexis St. Martin--was
accidentally shot in the stomach at close range, and his wound
healed in such a way as to leave a permanent opening. This enabled
Beaumont to insert food directly into the stomach, to siphon
gastric juice, and to experiment on the process of digestion both
inside and outside the stomach.
Because Beaumont had considerable difficulty in persuading St.
Martin to stay with him so he could continue his research, his
study was carried out sporadically over a number of years. In the
early 1830s, with the support of Joseph Lovell, the surgeon general
of the army, Beaumont and St. Martin went to the East Coast, where
additional experiments were carried out. In 1833, Beaumont
published Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the
Physiology of Digestion, a book based upon his research on St.
Martin and the work upon which his reputation primarily rests. His
observations revealed more about digestion in the human stomach
than had ever before been known, and his work was immediately
praised in both the United States and Europe.
After he left the army, Beaumont established a successful
private practice in St. Louis, Missouri, where he spent the latter
part of his life. Beaumont, a fascinating, argumentative character,
was often engaged in public controversy. He was also good friends
with several notable men, including the young Robert E. Lee.
Frontier Doctor sheds welcome new light on the state of
medicine both inside and outside the army in the early nineteenth
century and provides absorbing information on the early
experi-ments that set the research into human digestion irrevocably
on the right course.
General
Imprint: |
University of Missouri Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
Missouri Biography |
Release date: |
March 1996 |
First published: |
March 1996 |
Authors: |
Reginald Horsman
|
Dimensions: |
235 x 155 x 29mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
320 |
Edition: |
New |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8262-1052-4 |
Categories: |
Books >
Medicine >
General issues >
General
|
LSN: |
0-8262-1052-X |
Barcode: |
9780826210524 |
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