Archive for September, 2010

Alexis Bidagan was born north of Montreal, at Berthier in year 1794. He used the surname St. Martin.japan used cars

In 1822, Alexis was occupied by the American Fur Company as a voyager, when on June 6^th he suffered an accidental gunshot wound. A shotgun or a musket blasted under his left breast, causing two ribs to get fractured and be exposed without flesh to cover it. He acquired holes to his lungs and stomach.

Dr William Beaumont, a US Army surgeon discovered his case and did what he could to help him. Alexis recovered miraculously in spite of the predictions for his oncoming death. All but one of his wounds healed; the one that did not, was to change medical way of thinking.

This wound was located between his stomach and the outside. This is called a fistula in medical terms.  This fistula hole remained as it was unhealed for the rest of Alexis’s life. Dr Beaumont used Alexis and his fistula in a series of experiments concerning the function of the stomach. Before St Martin’s case, scientists believed that the heat in the stomach cooked food after you swallowed it and other theories.

Dr Beaumont used his influence in the US Army to hire St Martin as a Sergeant, when in fact his job role was actually being the Dr’s guinea pig. Through experiments, Beaumont was able to understand the function of the stomach and digestion.  He also discovered the presence of gastric acids, which has changed medical history.

St Martin died at the age of 66. At his funeral, the body was so decomposed that it could not be brought into the church. His relatives kept the body too long, as long as it was needed in order not to be of any use to the scientists that wished to test his remains.World Hotel Directory Direct links to the official web sites of the hotels all over the world.

The plaque of his grave in Quebec was erected by the Canadian Physiological Society, recognizing his major contribution in science and all humanity.
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If you wish to visit St Martin’s grave, the car rental companies in Quebec are Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz and Alamo.
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