26 PATHFINDERS OF PHYSIOLOGY 



in the local newspaper. In the footnote of the advertisement it is 

 stated that "Medicines will be put up with accuracy and care." In 

 December of 1816 Beaumont sold out and afterwards confined himself 

 entirely to the practice of his profession. He was commissioned by 

 President Monroe in 1820 and re-entered the military service, when 

 he was ordered to Fort Mackinac on the Northwestern frontier. He 

 describes his journey in detail in his diary. His course lay along the 

 southern shore of Lake Erie to the Detroit river, where he passed 

 Fort Maiden, near the Canadian town of Amherstburg, opposite Bois 

 Blanc island. He describes the fort at Detroit as a "regular work of 

 an oblong figure covering about an acre of graceful slopes." The 

 parapets are about 20 ft. in height, built of earth and sodded, with 

 four bastions. The whole surrounded with palisades, a deep ditch 

 and glacis. It stands immediately back of the town and has strength 

 to withstand a siege. The Detroit postoffice, corner of Fort and Shelby 

 streets, stands upon the ground at one time occupied by the above 

 mentioned fortification. A bronze tablet at the south entrance of the 

 postoffice gives in brief the vicissitudes of the old fort. 



He speaks of crossing over to Sandwich, then a small French vil- 

 lage. There is no mention of the route again until he reaches Fort 

 Michilimackinac, which is described as handsomely situated on the 

 southeast side of the island of this name, on a bluff rising from 100 

 to 200 feet from the water, almost perpendicular in many places, ex- 

 tending about half way around the island. The word "Michilimacki- 

 nac" means "turtle" from the resemblance of Mackinac island on be- 

 ing approached. 



The following entries in his diary throw considerable light on the 

 character of the man himself. 



Sept. 9, 1820. Commenced a diary of conduct on Dr. Franklin's plan, for ob- 

 taining moral perfection." (Benjamin Franklin appears to have been a favorite 

 with Beaumont, for he elsewhere quotes him at length.) ^'Reading Shakespeare 

 today I judged the following extracts worthy of copying; 'Love all, trust few, 

 do wrong to none; be able for thine enemy rather in power than use; and keep 

 thy friend under thy life's key; be checked for silence, but more taxed for speech. 



"10th. Rose at six o'clock. Visited my patients in village and discharged 

 garrison duty before 9 a. m. Settled my hospital account, perused scriptures 

 and Pope's Essay on Man till evening." 



Beaumont's diary is an interesting narrative of the times, written 

 by a keen and practical observer. 



The Psychological Moment: Late in the spring of 1822 occurred 

 the event which made the name of William Beaumont famous in the 

 annals of medicine. Indians and voyageurs had returned to Mackinac 

 with the results of the winter's hunting. A strange medley of hu- 

 manity had gathered at the Amercan Fur Company's trading post. 

 On the 6th of June a gun was accidentally discharged, its contents 

 entering the upper abdomen of a young voyageur, leaving a cavity 

 which would have admitted a man's fist. According to an eye-wit- 

 ness Alexis St. Martin, for that was his name, fell, as every one sup- 

 posed, dead. Dr. Beaumont, surgeon of the fort, was called, and ar- 

 rived shortly after the accident. Shot and pieces of clothing were 

 extracted and the wound dressed. The surgeon then left with the re- 



