FOOTNOTES:
[1] British and Foreign Medical Review, vol. ii. p. 378.
[2] Spectator, 7th May 1836.
[3] Dyspepsia (from the Greek words δυς, dus, bad, and πεπτω, pepto, I concoct) is synonymous with indigestion.
[4] Brachet, Recherches Experimentales sur les Fonctions du Système Nerveux Ganglionaire, chap. iii. Paris edition.
[5] It is difficult, as in the above sentence, to avoid occasionally using expressions and referring to processes, which have not previously been explained; but it would only lead to confusion and unnecessary repetition to stop at every page and introduce explanations, which, after all, the reader would scarcely understand on account of their brevity. In the present instance, therefore, where I allude to the process of digestion, it is better to refer the reader to the outline given at the beginning of Chapter IV, than to distract his attention by introducing it also here.
[6] Vol. iii, p. 40. Paris, 1809.
[7] Brachet, Recherches Experimentales sur les Fonctions du Système Nerveux Ganglionaire, p. 181.
[8] Blaine’s Outlines of the Veterinary Art, third edition, p. 273.
[9] Roget’s Bridgewater Treatise on Animal and Vegetable Physiology, vol. ii. p. 112.
[10] Principles of Physiology, &c., chapters IV. and V.
[11] See p. 14.
[12] For some very curious details on this subject, the reader may consult the last Edition of Dr Mackintosh’s Practice of Physic.
[13] In Latin, cuspis signifies the point of a spear; canis, a dog; mola, a mill; incisor, any thing which cuts.
[14] M. Cadet de Gassicourt recommends the following compound as a safe and excellent dentrifrice, viz. of white sugar and powdered charcoal each one ounce, of Peruvian bark half an ounce, of cream of tartar one drachm and a half, and of canella twenty-four grains, well rubbed together into an impalpable powder. He describes it as strengthening to the gums and cleansing to the teeth, and as destroying the disagreeable odour in the breath which so often arises from decaying teeth; and as a preventive of toothach, I have heard washing the mouth and teeth twice a-day with salt and water strongly recommended by a gentleman who had both experienced and observed much benefit from it.
[15] Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion, by William Beaumont, M.D. Platsburgh, 1833, p. 67.
[16] See Roget’s Bridgewater Treatise, note at p. 58, vol. ii.
[17] Id. vol. ii. p. 59.
[18] For a full explanation of the nature, importance, and laws of respiration, see the author’s Principles of Physiology, &c. 4th edition, chap. vii.
[19] Cuvier’s Règne Animal, vol. ii. p. 295.
[20] The above descriptions and figure are taken, with slight alterations, from the Treatise on Animal Physiology in the Library of Useful Knowledge.
[21] Principles of Physiology, 4th edition, &c. pp. 142, 192, and 277.
[22] From πνευμων, pneumon, a lung, and γαστηρ, gaster, the stomach, or lung and stomach nerve.
[23] Philosophy of Health, vol. i. p. 80.
[24] Cyclop. Pract. Med. vol. ii. p. 635.
[25] I cannot help thinking that, if St Martin be still alive, which is most likely, the Royal Society would do honour to themselves and render an essential service to science, by using their influence and means to have him brought over to this country and subjected, under the direction of a committee, to such further experiments as may throw light upon a variety of important points which Dr Beaumont, as an individual, had it not in his power adequately to investigate. In throwing out this suggestion, I need scarcely add, that I am far from undervaluing what that gentleman has accomplished, and that I consider it no disparagement to him to say, that he has left some subjects of interest connected with the inquiry still undetermined. Dr Beaumont has done his part too honourably and too well to risk any loss of credit by the subsequent researches of others; and as a case so pre-eminently favourable for carrying on the investigation may never occur again, it is the more necessary to turn it to the best possible account while it is yet time. If funds be wanting for the purpose, it is not unreasonable to suppose that Government would at once grant them, were the request urged by such an influential scientific body as the Royal Society, particularly as a few hundred pounds would suffice. If this suggestion shall ever be acted upon, special care should be taken not to injure St Martin’s health by withdrawing him entirely from his accustomed diet and mode of life, otherwise the whole value of the experiment may be lost—the object being to ascertain the laws and conditions of HEALTHY DIGESTION.
[26] The reader will find the same line of argument most eloquently and successfully pursued by Dr Buckland in his admirable Bridgewater treatise on “Geology considered with reference to Natural Theology,” which appeared subsequently to the first edition of this volume.
[27] Professor Carsewell of the London University has rendered an essential service to practical medicine, as well as morbid anatomy, by demonstrating, in an excellent paper published in the 34th volume of the Edin. Med. and Surg. Journal, that softening and erosion of the stomach, considered by Broussais and others as always results of inflammatory irritation during life, are generally caused by the digestive action of the gastric juice after death. The essay is well worthy of an attentive perusal; but it would carry me too far to notice it here at greater length.
[28] Macgillivray’s Description of the Rapacious Birds of Great Britain, p. 24.
[29] Blaine’s Veterinary Art, 3d edit. p. 247.
[30] Art of Invigorating and Prolonging Life, 3d edition, p. 160.
[31] Art of Prolonging Human Life, English edition. London, 1829. P. 282.
[32] Paris on Diet, p. 93.
[33] The inferences are given in Dr Beaumont’s own words, and the italics also are his. It is needless to say that Dr Beaumont does not present these inferences as discoveries. Most of them were known before; but he has the merit of adding greatly to the strength of the evidence on which they rest, and of substituting certainty for doubt in many instances. The very title of “Inferences” which he modestly gives them, implies that he does not even consider them as proved, and still less as discoveries; although a learned reviewer of the first edition charges him with this presumption.
[34] Principles of Physiology, &c. chap. ii
[35] Londe, Elemens d’Hygiène, tome ii. p. 16.
[36] Bubbles from the Brunnens of Nassau.
[37] See the Principles of Physiology, &c. chap. iii. p. 87.
[38] Respecting the proper regulation of exercise, see The Principles of Physiology, chap. iv. p. 144.
[39] Beaumont’s Observations, &c., p. 63.
[40] Transylvania Journal of Medicine for September 1832, p. 313. See also Dr Caldwell’s excellent Thoughts on Physical Education, and the True Mode of Improving the Condition of Man; reprinted for A. and C. Black, Edinburgh, 1836.
[41] Abercrombie on Diseases of the Stomach, &c., 1st edition, p. 72.
[42] The Art of Prolonging and Invigorating Life. 3d ed., p. 168.
[43] Art of Invigorating, &c., p. 171.
[44] Heidler. Marienbad, et ses differens moyens curatifs dans les maladies chroniques, p. 62.
[45] Principles of Physiology, &c. chap. vii. p. 256, and chap. x. p. 372.
[46] Londe, Elemens d’Hygiène, vol. ii. p. 161.
[47] Smith’s Philosophy of Health, Chapter IV.
[48] Clark on Consumption and Scrofula, p. 823.
[49] On this and kindred subjects, the reader will find much valuable information in Dr Brigham’s Remarks on the Influence of Mental Cultivation and Mental Excitement upon Health; reprinted, with excellent practical Notes, by Dr Robert Macnish. 2d edition, Glasgow, 1836.
[50] Clark on Pulmonary Consumption and Scrofula, p. 230.
[51] Dr Forbes in Cyclop. Pract. Medic., vol. i. p. 698, foot-note.
[52] Abercrombie on Diseases of the Stomach, &c. 1st edit. p. 73.
[53] Beaumont’s Experiments and Observations, &c. p. 243.
[54] Beaumont’s Experiments and Observations, &c. p. 249.
[55] Beaumont’s Experiments and Observations, &c., p. 185.
[56] Cumberland’s Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 204.
[57] Art of Invigorating Life, 3d. ed. pl. 73.
[58] Caldwell’s Thoughts on Physical Education, p. 94.
[59] See Professor Dunglison’s Elements of Hygiene, p. 324, in which the reader will find a great variety of very useful information on all the branches of the subject. The remarks on the different kinds of food and drink are among the best which I have met with.
[60] Dunglison’s Elements of Hygiene, p. 331.
[61] Beaumont’s Experiments and Observations, &c. p. 237.
Transcriber’s Notes:
1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been corrected silently.
2. Where hyphenation is in doubt, it has been retained as in the original.
3. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have been retained as in the original.
4. Where appropriate, the original spelling has been retained.