Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
William Beaumont and Early Studies of Gastric Secretion
A young army surgeon stationed on Mackinac Island in Michigan, William Beaumont (1785-1853) was asked to treat a shotgun wound. The patient, Alexis St. Martin, survived but was left with a permanent opening into his stomach from the outside. Over the next few years, Dr. Beaumont used this crude fistula to sample gastric secretions. He identified hydrochloric acid as the principal agent in gastric juice and recognized its digestive and bacteriostatic functions. Moreover, many of his conclusions about the regulation of secretion and motility remain valid to this day.
The illustration is from the collection of online images available through the National Library of Medicine.