Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion

Abstract

In our examination of the work before us, we shall endeavour to present to our readers a clear view of the facts and deductions of the author, with an occasional comment upon some of the opinions which he has advanced. We shall follow, however, a somewhat different arrangement from that adopted by Dr. Beaumont.The subject upon which the experiments of the latter were performed, Avas a young man, of a good constitution, robust and healthy, who, on the Gth of June, 1822, he being then eighteen years of age, was accidentally wounded by the discharge of a musket loaded with buck-shot. The load entered his body posteriorly, and in an oblique direction, forwards and inwards, literally blowing off a portion of the integuments and muscles ofihe size of a man's hand, fracturing and carrying away the anterior half of the sixth rib ; fracturing the fifth ; lacerating the lower portion of the left lobe of the lungs and the diaphragm, and perforating the stomach. On examination, twenty-five or thirty minutes after the accident, a portion of the lung, as large as a turkey's egg, was found protruding through the exterior wound, lacerated and burnt, and immediately below this, was " another protrusion, which, on further examination, proved to he a portion of the stomach, lacerated through all its coats, and pouring out the food " that had been eaten in the morning, "through an orifice large enough to admit the forefinger."It is unnecessary, on the present occasion, to follow out the surgical details of the accident and its treatment. For seventeen days every thing that was taken by the mouth soon passed out at the wound, and the only manner in "which the patient was sustained was by nutritious injections per anum. During this period alvine evacuations could not be obtained, notwithstanding cathartic enemata were given, and various other means adopted to promote them. As soon, however, as compresses and adhesive straps could be applied over the opening into the stomach, and food was retained in the latter, by the aid of purgative injections, a very hard, black, fetid stool was procured, followed by several similar ones ; after which the bowels became quite regular, and continued so." No sickness, nor unusual irritation of the stomach, not even the slightest nausea, was manifest during the whole time; and after the fourth week, the appetite became good, digestion regular, the alvine evacuations natural, and all the functions of the system perfect and healthy.By the adhesion of the sides of the protruded portions of the stomach to the pleura costalis and the external wound, a free exit was afforded to the contents of that organ, and effusion into the abdominal cavity was thereby prevented."Cicatrization and contraction of the external wound commenced in the fifth Week; the stomach became more firmly attached to the pleura, but the orifice * Not having been able to procurc a copy of Dr. Beaumont's work in time for this Number of the Journal, we have transferred to our columns an admirable analysis of it from a recent Number of our e...

Review article: methods of measuring gastric acid secretion

“…1 Beaumont, with his famous experiments on a patient with a permanent gastric fistula, provided more insight into the factors that influence the secretion of gastric acid in his work, Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion. 2 Since then, a variety of methods of measuring gastric acid both qualitatively and quantitatively have been discovered and tested in different pathological states, adding to our knowledge about gastric acid. Before the discovery of H. pylori, it was widely believed that peptic ulcer disease was caused by excess acid secretion, but following the recognition of this organism's role in the pathogenesis of peptic ulcer disease and its effect on acid secretion, interest in measuring gastric acid output declined.…”

Selye’s general adaptation syndrome: stress-induced gastro-duodenal ulceration and inflammatory bowel disease

“…The fact that emotions such as fear and anger affect acid secretions of the stomach was first documented in 1833 by US Army surgeon William Beaumont in his studies on Alexis St Martin a French Canadian fur trapper who accidentally sustained a massive gunshot wound in the stomach (Beaumont 1833). The wound resulted in a chronic gastric fistula that enabled Beaumont to make direct observations of the mucosa of the stomach and gastric secretions under different conditions.…”

Stress and the Gastrointestinal System

“…In 1833, William Beaumont [ 15 ], a US Army surgeon, was the fi rst to describe the infl uence of fear and anger on gastric acid secretion of his patient Alexis St. Martin, a Canadian trapper with a permanent gastric fi stula caused by a musket shot. In 1902, Walter Cannon [ 42 ] observed gastrointestinal (GI) motility disturbances in the cat faced with an aggressive dog.…”