224: DIGESTION. 



thirty minutes after the accident, when the above facts were 

 noted, and an opening into the stomach was discovered 

 large enough to admit the forefinger. Extensive sloughing 

 took place ; and for seventeen days every thing that was swal- 

 lowed passed out at the wound, and nourishment was admin- 

 istered by the rectum. In the spring of 1824, the wound had 

 cicatrized, and the patient had perfectly recovered his 

 health ; but in the process of cure, seven pieces of cartilage 

 had come away, and three or four inches of the sixth rib, with 

 about half of the lower edge of the fifth rib, had been removed 

 by an operation. The perforation into the stomach was 

 irregularly circular in form, and about two and a half inches 

 in circumference. This opening was closed by a protrusion 

 of the mucous membrane of the stomach in the form of a 

 valve, which could readily be depressed by the finger so as 

 to expose the interior. This valve effectually prevented the 

 discharge of the contents of the stomach, which had annoyed 

 the patient previous to the winter of 1823-'24. 



From May, 1825, to August of the same year, St. Martin 

 was under the observation of Dr. Beaumont, and submitted 

 to numerous experiments. At the end of that time, he re- 

 turned to Canada, and was lost sight of for four years, during 

 which time he married and became the father of two chil- 

 dren, " worked hard to support his family, and enjoyed ro- 

 bust health and strength." He then came again under the 

 observation of Dr. Beaumont, and continued in his service, 

 doing the work of a common servant, until March, 1831. 

 After this, he was under observation from time to time until 

 1836 ; all this time enjoying perfect health, with good diges- 

 tion, and having become the father of several more children. 

 The last published observations made upon this case were 

 in 1856. 1 



1 In the Philadelphia, Medical Examiner, numbers for July and September, 

 1856, is an account of some experiments made on St. Martin in May of the same 

 year. These observations were also published in the Journal de la Physiologic, 

 Paris, 1858, tome i., p. 144 etseq. 



