Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1856-06-24

From the American Phren. Journa
ALEXIS ST. MARTIN,
THE WONDER OF THE WORLD.

remember Or. BeaumontS account of
Alelx St. Martin who had his side shot
away. and an opening made in his stom-
ach by means of which the process of d.
gestion could be noted.
This man, St. Martin, is now in our
city, in excellent health we have seen
the man and the oriice in his stomach,
and present to our readers an excellent
likeness of him, from daguerreotype by
ferrand, of this city, and the first that was
ever taken of him.
| A brief sketch Of the man will interest
all our readers He is a Canadian, of
French descent, and was born some twen
ty-five miles from Montreal. Onthe 9Th
OF June, 1922, when about IS years of
age, he was engaged inthe service of the
American Fur Company, and was acci-
dentally wounded by the discharge of
musket loaded with duck shot. The
charge tore off the muscles, carried away
half of the sixth rib, lacerating the left
lobe Of the lungs as well as the diaphragm,
and perforating the stomach. A portion
of the lung, as large as a turkeys egg,
lacerated and burnt, and just below this
portion Of the stomach, of equal size, pro-
trIded from the wound, the food at the
same time passing from the orrifce thus
made in the stomach. We give few ex-
tracts from DIR. Beaumont's Physiology
and Experiments" This work, embra-
cling the experiments on St. Martin, is the
foundation Of nearly all the positive
knowledge now possessed by the world on
the subject of digestion.
On the fifth day partial sIoughing
of the inte9umentS and muscles took place.
Some OF the procruled portions of the
lung, and lacerated parts of the stomach,
also sloughed, and left a perforation into
the stomach, plainly TO be seen, large
enough to admit the whole length OF my
/ forefiager into its cavity and also a pas
sage into the chest, half as large as my
fist, exposing to view part of the lung,
and permitting the free escape of air and
bloody mucus AT every respiration
a violent fever continued for ten days,
running into atyphoid type, and the wound
became very fetid."
Oa the eleventh day more extensive
sloughing took place, the febrile symp-
toms subsided, and The whole surface of
the wound assumed a healthy and granula-
ting appearance"
For seventeen days all that entered
the stomach by the esophagus soon passed
out by the wound !; and the only way Of
sustaining hiln was by means OF nutriti-
Gus injections, until compresses and adhe-
sive straps could be applied so as to retain
his food
No sickness nor unusual irritation Of
the stomach, not even the slightest nau-
sea was manifested during the whole
time; and after the fourth week the ap-
petite became good, digestion regular,
the alvine evacuations natural, and all the
functions oe the system perfect and heal
/ thy"
" By the adhesion Of the sides of the
protruded portions Of the stomach to the
pleura costalis and the external wound,
free exit was afforded to the contents of
that organ, and effusion into the abdomin-
al cavity was thereby prevented"
Whenever the wound was dressed,
the contents of the stomach would flow
out in proportion to the quantity recently
taken. If the stomach happened to be
empty. or nearly so, partial inversion
would take place, unless prevented by the
application of the finger
The circumference of the external
wound was at least twelve inches, and the
orifice in the stomach nearly III the GEN.
tire, two inches below the left nipple
To retain his food and drinks ! kept
a compress and tent of lint, fitted to the
shape and size of the preforation, and con-
fined by adhesive straps"
After trying all the means in my pow
er for eight or ten months to close the ori-
flee gave it up as impracticable in any
| other way than that of incising and bring
ing together by satures; al operation to
which the patient would not submit
BY the sloughing of the injured por-
ton OF the lung q cavity was left as large
as common sized teacup, from which
continued a copious discharge of pus for
three months 1t then became filled with
healthy granulations, firmly adhering to
/ the pleura, and healed
After this healing, an abscess formed
two inches below the wound, which was
laid open TO the extent of three inches,
and several shot and pieces of wad We're
extracted.
1 The na;iant suffered eYfre,ne1v hy this