Title page of book on digestion, Bath, 1833

Contributed by Patten Free Library

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U.S. Army physician William Beaumont wrote Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion, one of the earliest and most significant scientific accounts of experiments and observations on the digestive system.

The book is from the library of Maine's first governor, William King. His collection is the core collection that developed into the Patten Free Library in Bath.

In 1822 Dr. Beaumont treated a Canadian trapper, Alexis St. Martin, who had been shot in the mid-section at close range. The wound healed, but left an opening to the man's stomach. Starting in 1825, Beaumont studied St. Martin's stomach and digestion, making systematic observations at different stages in the digestive process and analyzing samples of his gastric juices. The results of this study became the foundation of modern knowledge about the stomach and the process of digestion.

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Title: Title page of book on digestion, Bath, 1833
Creator: Beaumont, William
Creation Date: 1833
Subject Date: circa 1822
Local Name: Patten Free Library
Town: Bath
County: Lincoln
State: ME
Media: ink on paper, book
Dimensions (cm): 23 x 14 x 1.8
Local Code: V-7-77
Collection: King Library, Patten Free Library
Object Type: Text

For more information about this item, contact:

Patten Free Library
33 Summer Street, Bath, ME 04530
(207) 443-5141
http://www.patten.lib.me.us/

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