The Blood Transfusion, 1667
Photo credit: alchetron.com
Paris, 1667. Everyone was talking about the news that Monsieur Jean Denis was performing blood transfusions. Meanwhile, that very same physician was trying to keep one step ahead of his rivals in England, Richard Lower and Edmund King.
Denis sent for a porter whom he knew. ‘Will you permit me to put lamb’s blood into your veins, Monsieur Écarter?’ he asked.
‘Why should I do such a foolish thing, Sir? I’m as strong as a horse.’ The thick-set porter laughed and beat his chest with his fist.
‘I expect that you will do such a foolish thing for two reasons,’ replied Jean Denis sourly. ‘You will help me to add to medical knowledge and you will receive ten pieces of silver as a reward.’
A thoughtful expression appeared on the porter’s face. ‘Have you ever done this kind of thing before, Sir?’
‘Yes. On dogs and a horse. I gave the horse rams’ blood – its urine was black in colour for a day or two, but it was normal again by the end of a week. And a month ago I transfused lamb’s blood into a young man with a protracted fever. He was cured.’
‘But lamb’s blood. Will it not weaken me?’
‘Not at all,’ replied Denis. ‘Lamb’s blood is very pure. Unlike human beings,’ he said sharply, ‘lambs are not given to gluttony and drinking.’ Denis looked severely at Écarter, but it seemed the porter had not registered that the physician was berating him.
‘These simple beasts were created to be food for us. They have no soul. They have no knowledge of the sufferings and sorrows that burden us. And, without doubt, they have escaped the pollution of sin brought upon us by our forefather, Adam. The lamb’s blood will do you good.’
The transfusion went ahead. First, the surgeon Paul Emmerez made a small incision in Écarter’s arm. Using a hollow goose quill as a needle, he bled ten ounces of dark blood from a vein under the porter’s skin.
Denis held the lamb still while Emmerez drew twenty ounces of blood from its neck. The surgeon then transfused the lamb’s blood carefully into Écarter’s arm. It was obvious that the porter’s veins were being filled with the blood and he was uncomfortable for a moment, feeling heat up to his armpit.
The lamb lay quietly. ‘As gentle as a lamb,’ said Denis with a smile.
Once the transfusion was complete, the porter rose to his feet without any difficulty whatsoever. The lamb, too, was very lively.
Écarter returned the following morning to collect his reward, the silver coins. ‘I’m as fit as a fiddle,’ he said, ‘and my wife is delighted.’ Then he asked with a sly smile, ‘What will you do with the lamb?’
Denis gave the lamb to Écarter. The porter slaughtered it and prepared the meat for roasting. He bought a hogshead of beer with his reward of silver and there was a big party at his house.
(This story is based on the research of Professor Peter Sahlins, Berkley University, United States of America – ‘The Beast Within: Animals in the First Xenotransfusion Experiments in France, ca. 1667-1668.’ Representations 2015, 129, 25-55. When a notable patient died there was a scandal and the Paris Parlement put a stop to blood transfusion.)