Experiments and observations on the gastric juice
Publisher Information: Plattsburgh: F. P. Allen, 1833.
Beaumont, William (1785-1853). Experiments and observations on the gastric juice, and the physiology of digestion. 8vo. 280pp., text illustrations. Plattsburgh: F. P. Allen, 1833. 221 x 137 mm. Original boards, cloth spine with remains of paper label, hinges fragile, light edgewear; preserved in a cloth slipcase. Some foxing and dampstaining but very good. From the library of Herbert M. Evans (1882-1971), with bookplates; later owned by Chauncey D. Leake (1896-1978), with his note on paper wrapper enclosing the book.
First Edition. Beaumont, a U. S. Army surgeon, was the first to make an accurate scientific study of the physical phenomena of gastric digestion. While stationed at Fort Mackinac, Michigan, close to the Canadian border, Beaumont was presented with a unique opportunity in the person of one of his patients, the young French Canadian soldier Alexis St. Martin, who had been left with a permanent gastric fistula after suffering a gunshot wound to the stomach. Beaumont’s experiments and observations, conducted between 1825 and 1831, conclusively established the chemical nature of digestion, the presence and role of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, the temperature of the stomach during digestion, the movement of the stomach walls and the relative digestibility of certain foods—all of which revolutionized current theories of the physiology of digestion. This copy is from the library of Herbert M. Evans, discoverer of vitamin E and human growth hormone; it was later given by Evans’ daughter to Chauncey D. Leake, discoverer of the anesthetic properties of divinyl ether. Garrison-Morton.com 989. Dibner, Heralds of Science, 130. Fulton, pp. 186-190. Horblit 10. Norman 152. Norman, One Hundred Books Famous in Medicine, 61.
Book Id: 43594Price: $1,500.00