Polytechnic Association Proceedings. 649 



of the gun made a perforation through the walls of the stomach, 

 the man sui-vived, but this perforation was never closed; conse- 

 quently, through it Dr. Beaumont was enabled to make his exami- 

 nations, and perform his interesting and valuable series of experi- 

 ments. Introducing the various kinds of food through this aperture 

 into the stomach, and then watching the result of the digestive 

 process, he ascertained many valuable facts (given by him in detail 

 in a volume devoted to this subject). For example, in the diges- 

 tion of vegetables, for rice boiled, only one hour was required, 

 while for boiled cabbage it took four and a half hours to complete 

 its digestion. For venison steak, broiled, one hour and thirty-tive 

 minutes; for pork, five hours and fifteen minutes; for roast beef, 

 three hours; for milk, boiled, two hours; for milk, not boiled, two 

 hours and fifteen minutes; for chickeu, fricaseed, two hours and 

 fort3^-five minutes; for turkey, roast, two hours and thirty minutes; 

 for ducks, roast, four hours; for potatoes boiled, three hours and 

 thirty minutes; for potatoes, mashed, two hours and thirty min- 

 utes; for bread, three hours and thirty minutes. It is exceedingly 

 interesting to compare the result of these experiments, performed 

 by Dr. Beaumont upon Alexis St. Martin, and observe how closely 

 that result coincides with the instructive experience of mankind. 

 The Indian, and also the hunter, has often been heard to remark — 

 without ever having had the opportunity of looking into the sto- 

 mach — that for the toil and hardship of a long tramp, he must 

 have something which would " last him longer " than the meat of 

 the deer, which Dr. Beaumont found was digested in an hour and a 

 half; and surely no ocular demonstration is necessary to prove to 

 one who makes the essay, that pork and boiled cabbage require a 

 longer time and greater effort of digestion than roast beef and 

 potatoes; the experience of the sensations is sufficient. In animals, 

 the food required must undergo a process of digestion or liquefac- 

 tion before it can be absorbed, the general characteristics of which, 

 in all cases, are the same. Digestion is accomplished in the alimen- 

 tary canal, where the food is brought under the action of certain 

 digestive fluids, which liquefy and dissolve it. These fluids are 

 the secretions from the mucous membrane of the alimentary canal, 

 and those glandular organs contiguous, which pour their secretions 

 into this canal. Because the food, always consisting of a mixture 

 of substances, having diflerent physical and chemical properties, 

 the digestive fluids necessarily must differ materially from each 

 other, each one exerting a peculiar action, which is more or less 



