Editorial note — Chapter VI · Digestion.

Note. The process of gastric digestion was studied many years ago by Dr. Beaumont and others, in the remarkable case of Alexis St. Martin, a French-Canadian, who met with a gun-shot wound which left a permanent opening into his stomach, guarded by a little valve of mucous membrane. Through this opening the lining of the stomach could be seen, the temperature ascertained, and numerous experiments made as to the digestibility of various kinds of food. It was by these careful and convincing experiments that the foundation of our exact knowledge of the composition and action of gastric juice was laid. The modest book in which Dr. Beaumont published his results is still counted among the classics of physiology. The production of artificial fistulæ in animals, a method that has since proved so fruitful, was first suggested by his work.