FLINT, AUSTIN

born Oct. 20, 1812, Petersham, Mass., U.S. died March 13, 1886, New York, N.Y. one of the most eminent of 19th-century physicians, and a pioneer of heart research in the United States. He discovered (1862) a disordernow known as the Austin Flint murmurcharacterized by regurgitation of blood from the aorta into the heart before contraction of the ventricles. As professor of medicine at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York City (186186), and president of the American Medical Association (188384), Flint had a great influence on the early course of medicine in the United States. A proponent of improved European diagnostic methods, he popularized the binaural stethoscope in the United States. His Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Medicine (1866) is a medical classic.