Got Milk?

Got milk? Got pasteurized milk? You might want to thank God and Louis Pasteur, who died on this day in 1895. I like the quote of Pasteur at the bottom of this American minute below. I am so thankful to know that there is a loving Creator and that my life is not just a series of mere random events!

American Minute with Bill Federer

September 28

He developed vaccines for rabies and anthrax, revolutionized medicine
with his germ theory of disease, and laid the foundation for the
control of tuberculosis, cholera, diphtheria and tetanus.

While Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at Lille University in France,
he developed the process of “Pasteurization” of milk.

This was Louis Pasteur, who died SEPTEMBER 28, 1895.

President Eisenhower wrote January 8, 1954:

“Pasteurization of milk has prevented countless epidemics and saved
thousands of lives.”

President Johnson stated April 7, 1966:

“Years ago Louis Pasteur said, ‘I hold the unconquerable belief that
science and peace will triumph over ignorance and war; that nations
will come together not to destroy, but to construct; and that the
future belongs to those who accomplish most for humanity.'”

President George H.W. Bush stated February 13, 1989:

“You know, Louis Pasteur once said: ‘Chance favors only the prepared
mind.’…For America to be prepared for the future, our children must
be educated.”

Dr. Louis Pasteur wrote:

“The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the
Creator…

There is something in the depths of our souls which tells us that the
world may be more than a mere combination of events.”

The Hole

Who is this elderly, skinny, bare-chested man?(Although an old man in this picture, he was 28 at the time of his accident)  It is Alexis St. Martin, a man we learned about this week in our study on nutrition.  I found his story to be fascinating and through events that took place in his life, some great breakthroughs were made in medical science.  In 1822, Alexis experienced the misfortune of having a gun accidentally fire at him from a very close range.  This gunshot blasted a hole in his side, which everyone that saw the accident, assumed would be a fatal wound.  A nearby physician in the village of Mackinac Island, Michigan territory, was called upon to attend to Alexis.  He did what he could to help the man, but felt certain that the man would die, and he told the shopkeeper(where the accident took place) that he would return in an hour.  To Dr. Beaumont’s amazement, the man still lived and continued to improve slowly under the doctor’s care.  After close to a year and several surgeries,  Alexis was left with a small hole in his stomach that would not close up.  Dr. Beaumont made a “lint plug” to keep inside the hole.  This hole, which was large enough for the doctor to insert his finger into, would remain with Alexis for the rest of his life.  The story went on to tell how Dr. Beaumont used Alexis as a “human guinea pig” to conduct experiments with the hope of learning more about the digestion process.  Dr. Beaumont would take little bits of food, such as beef, salt pork or potato, tie them to a silk string and insert them into Alexis’ stomach, via the hole.  He would then pull the foods out after a certain amount of time to see how much they had digested.  He learned that not all food digests at the same rate and that the stomach can digest more than one food at a time.  He was even able to extract some gastric juice from Alexis’ stomach and perform experiments with the gastric juice outside the stomach.  Food would digest outside the stomach when placed in a tube with the gastric juice but at a much slower rate.   Once, in his quest to find out what gastric juice really was, he tasted a drop of it on his tongue.  (gag a maggot!) Anyway, I thought it was interesting that in spite of this man’s accident and all the suffering that was involved, understanding was gained in the field of medicine that would greatly benefit mankind.  As I thought of Alexis St. Martin and what he endured, my mind went back to the old, old story of that “man from Galillee” who was pierced in his hands and feet and endured an agonizing death on the cross.  I’m so glad that Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice to benefit man not only in this life, but throughout all eternity, to whomsoever will obey and follow the gospel.