Abstract
IN a recent thesis (Thèse de Paris 1940, No. 344) on this subject, Dr. Edmond Ecale states that the history of the transfusion of blood is intimately connected with the discovery of the circulation. Although even in the prehistoric period the idea of the operation had been conceived, it was in the country of Harvey that the first scientific attempts of transfusion were made, namely, by Christopher Wren in 1656 and Edmund King in 1667. Jean Denis was the first to carry out transfusion from an animal to man in 1667, and was followed a few months later by Richard Lower in England, Riva in Italy and Kaufmann in Germany. Transfusion of blood was prohibited by the Châtelet edict in 1668, and almost fell into oblivion for nearly a century and a half. The first successful transfusion of blood from man to man, which was carried out by the obstetrician James Blundell in 1825, marked an important progress in the history of the method, and was performed with a syringe containing defibrinated blood to prevent coagulation. The introduction, however, in 1879 of intravenous injection of normal saline which was a simpler and safer method interfered with the progress of transfusion of blood for some time. After the beginning of the twentieth century, transfusion of blood was again revived on the discovery of agglutinins, iso-agglutinins, blood groups and blood incompatibilities, which enabled a correct choice to be made of donors and recipients, while the use of anti-coagulants, paraffined tubes and other refinements of technique led to the adoption of the perfected method employed at the present time.
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History of Blood Transfusion. Nature 146, 228–229 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/146228c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/146228c0