Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-10-03
THE PRICE OF BLOOD.


From the New York Herald
81 have just been reading letter from Rich.
mond," said DR.. Joseph W. Howe to Herald
reporter who called upon him at his residence,
No. 50 West Oath street, "with regard to the re-
suit OF an operation for the TRANSMISSION Of blood
which performed there on gentleman. He
had had pneumonia twice, hole IN his lung
with adhesions to the chest. and had met with
an accident which caused internal hemorrhage.
1t was for this last complication that treated
him. see by this letter that he died five or six
days after the operation from congestion Of the
lungs. His life was prolonged for that time by
the TRANSMISSION, and he was enabled to make his
will and arrange all his business"
'Where did you get the blood from?" aske
the reporter.
From young negro man." answered DR..
Howe. Il injected seven ounces of his blood into
the gentleman's vens.''
lis it difficult to get blood when 1t is necessa-
ry to perform the operation immediately"
'NOt at all. 1t is always easy to get it BY buy
ing 1t or begging for it. There is an old fellow
on the ferrybOat running between Sod street and
the Charity Hospital whom ] have bled four
times within two years in four different cases.
He never seemed to mind it. On the contrary,
he always seemed to be better for it. always
looked for some sign of weakness in him when
the blood was drawn, but never saw any. He
is vigorous old fellow, about fifty years OF age,
who takes his whisky without too much water
in it. Each time that he assisted me in the OPP
Grafton gave him two or three dollars and he
was perfectly satisfied
Are there any persons who hire themselves
out for this purpOse?"
''Oh, no; tie operation is not performed fire.
quently enough for that. When it Is necessary
some one hanging about who is only too willing
for a small amount to become a donor as the
technical term is. In private practice relatives
Of the patient usually give their blood. And here
l am reminded of two points. In the case l re-
lated of the Richmond gentleman it was thought
that as he had ahOle in his lung the newly in
fected blood might force its way into the cavity
and cause recurrence of the hemorrhage 1t
did not do so, and believe that as matter OF
fact the new blood had a tendency to coagulate
at the broken ends OF the vessels and SO prevent
further bleeding. The other point is that blood
taken from q relative OF person to be operated
upon cOagulates much more rapidly than blood
taken from stranger. This rapid cOagulatiOn
is attributed to anxiety on the part of the rela-
tive, but what the physiological cause is l don't
know. There is general belief, in fact. that
the blood OF person is poisonous to a relative
of that person.
II remember the case of clergyman" con-
tinued DIR. Howe, upon whose wife q severe
surgical operation was performed. 1t was ne
cessary to transfuse blood into her veins, and
her husband was the donor His blood coagu-
lated almost Immediately after it was drawn
The anxiety OF the donors often produce an
unpleasant effect upon them The loss of the
blood has nothing to do with it. l knew OF the
case OF man who had intimate relations with
woman twenty-five years old. She had been
the victim of malpractice. The man gave some
of his blood for the TRANSMISSION and immediately
tainted. 1t was not the loss of the blood that
caused the fainting, but anxiety for the success
OF the operation. The woman recovered and
was attending to her household duties within a
few days.
''But in case of emergency when there are
no relatives or friends near by what are you to
dor"
''Oh, go out on the street and accost the first
man you meet. Go into group of labOrers and
tell them what you want, that the bleeding
won't hurt and that you will pay them well, and
you will soon find a man for your purpose
We all remember when people paid doctors to
bleed them and they didn't object. And they
don't object in these cases. There have been
some exceptions in my experience One was in
the case of a woman up town here who was sud-
denly taken with a violent hemorrhage l sent
her husband out after man and he caught one
on corner The fellow was drunk, and he
tainted or pretended to, and didn't get enough
blood from him. l sent the husband out after a
another man. but he didn't get back. in time
and the woman died the next day"