The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-01-04

alizations, which were, however, soon
proved futile; and the excitement
gradually died away, and before long
the whole subject was almost forgot
ten. But it was too important to Do
neglected by the medical profession,
and it has been revived in Europe,
notably in France and England. Re-
GENTLY at a clinic in one of the Man
chester England hospitals, the at
tending surgeon came to the bed OF q
young patient who had lost SO much
blood by the amputation of limb that
he became moribund, his death being
momentarily expected. The surgeon
told his class that this was one of the
rare cases in which the life of an indi-
vidual could be saved by TRANSMISSION
of blood, and at once a noble medical
student offered himself for the expert
ment, and allowed over sixteen ounces
of his blood to be transfused into the
veins of the dying patient. The re-
suit was perfectly satisfactory; the
sufferer revived, in two hours after
ward he recognized people, and he
was soon on the way to recovery. This
incident, being published in the news
papers, has given occasion to the renew
al of the discussion among seml-scien-
tific and quasi medical editors, and, as
in the beginning of this century, when
the subject was first agitated, all kinds
of absurd ideas are being promulgated,
such as that the old can be made
young again by the influence of the
transfused blood; the weak can be
made strong, the sick healthy; and
even bad-tempered people can bemade
lamb-like by TRANSMISSION OF sleeps
blood, and towards courageous by the
infusion of the blood of dozen or so of
game BOOSTERS. The conditions IN
every case are the draining of as much
defective blood as is to be replaced by
the more perfect material. OF course
such ideas are merely idle notions, and
in no case can TRANSMISSION of blood do
any good, except when temporary
relief is needed at critical moment.
1t should be remembered that old
blood is always being consumed, and
new blood is continually being manu-
featured in the system, from the chyle
into which the food eaten is first trans
formed. In this strange manufactur-
ing process, the whole digestive appa-
ratus, with the mesentery and liver,
spleen and lungs, continually takes
part; and if these organs act lnetfl-
GENTLY, the blood is defective and
TRANSMISSION can only effect a tempo,
| rary correction, because, as soon az
the transfused blood has been con-
sumed by the continual wants of the
system, it is again replaced by blood
identical to that manufactured by the
defective organs which produced the
original defective fluid.
4, Blood is a constantly and absolute
ly necessary fluid in the economy o.
any animal with circulation; but thi:
does not mean that it has constantly
unchanged nature. On the contrary
it is the universal material which is t.
furnish to every organ all the mate
rails needed to replace the continue
waste, of muscular tissue or flesh.
fiber to the muscles, nervous matte
to the brain and nerves, phosphate o
lime to the bones, etc. Blood is there
fore continually in the torrent of it
circulation to the most remote part
of the body, being deprived of tn
most important constituents which i
carries; and without an equally con
tinual supply of these constituents, i
is soon unfit for further use in repair
ing the bodily waste. 1t is thus seel
that the cause OF poor or diseased
blood is not to be looked for in til,
blood per Sc, but in the organs o
which the function is blood-making
and if these are defective, no trans
fusion can possibly be more than ;
transient benefit, and the attention o
the rational physician should be di
rected to the defective organs in ques
ton and not to their notwithstanding
american,