  Dr.
William Beaumont
 Dr.
William Beaumont conducted his experiments on Alexis St. Martin by dropping
food on a string into the open hole of his stomach. When carriage tour
drivers tell this story to Mackinac visitors today, they often explain
how the doctor tied pieces of pork and beef on silk strings, put them
into the opening, and later withdrew them to observe the extent of digestion.
As the drivers describe it, the process worked well "except when
the doctor used applesauce!"
St. Martin was not much interested in science and
Beaumont's experiments and often departed his service abruptly. Over the
years the doctor tracked him down in remote areas of Lower Canada and
arranged transportation and employment to ensure that the experiments
could continue. Beaumont's Experiments and Observations on the Gastric
Juice and the Physiology of Digestion, published in 1833, created a sensation
in the medical world.
This building erected in 1954 by the Michigan State Medical Society is
located on the site of the Astor retail store where the accident took
place and commemorates the ground-breaking medical research conducted
by Dr. Beaumont.
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