Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-01
TRANS FUSION OF BLOOD.
DR.. +. U, Valentine Exp a MS How
He Performed the Operation
on Mr.. Okeburg.
A Surgical Remedy Which Sc
Thinks All People Ought
to Know.

New York World.
The case Of O. j. ". Okeburg, who
was found In a room at the hotel st.
Andre, at Nc. IL Eleventh street, on
Sunday morning, insensible from In.
haling Illuminating gas, and whose
life was saved by the transfusing of
blood to him from a negro named
Edwin Banks, caused much comment
yesterday. DR. Ferdinand O. Valen-
tine, of No. % Eleventh street, the
physician who attended Okeburg, was
seen yesterday by a reporter of the
World. He said: "Since the publ.
cation In this mornings World of the
account of Mr. Okeburg's case 1t has
become known that the circumstances
under which he nearly lost his life
were purely accidental, though at the
time it did seem as though 1t was an
attempt at suicide. Mr.. Okeburg Is a
we'll. educated man whose mind was
temporarily unsettled, owing to the
strain caused by O pressure of bust.
ness. He left home on Friday morn.
ing without breakfast and wandered
about the city all day Friday, aud at
night put up at the st. Andre hotel,
W. ere he was assigned to room No. G..
He retired about IL o'clock. and was
found In the state already described
at about 6 o'clock the next morning,
When I was called In l found his res
pirations ten or eleven to the minute
and his pulse had no perceptible baat.
Artificial respiration was INDUCED In,
aud we soon had his resplrations up
to fourteen q minute. During this
operation somebody present searched
his clothes, and from letters found II
wss ascertained that he was q friend
of DR.. Gerrios, who wss then sent
for.
When he arrived we consulted and
decided that the trsnsfusing OF
blood should be done, aud at about
l o'clock the operation was per.
formed
TT YVES not q quart Of blood, how.
ever, that was taken and transfused,
as has been asserted, but six ounces of
blood from Banks, and Immediately
after the termination of the operation,
Okeburg exhibited signs of returning
consciousness"
THAT TATR OF SUDDEN FRATERNITY.
SIS it true that after the operation
Okeburg addressed Banks az his
brother and refused to recognize his
wlfe2"
"No. That was tho invention Of
an Imaginative person who is addicted
to daobling In startling theories as to
physiology and Is apt to be In a hurry
to bolster them up. 1t Is q fact that
Okeburg did not at first recognize his
wife, and 1t Is fact that he spoke
very gratefully and warmly to Banks,
but these facts are susceptible of q
very simple explanation.
ellis wife called while he was I'M
conscious, and Of course 1t was i'm
possible for HIM to recognize her.
Flagellstions and shocks of electrical
currents aided us In restoring him to
consciousness, which state he gained
at about 6 o'clock p. m. When he was
well enough we told him of the opera.
tion to which he had been one Of the
principals, and he earnestly thanked
Banks for having given him the
blood"
is the translation of blood o rare
o~ccurrence2" asked thereporter. ono;
indeed" replied DR.. Valentine. son
the contrary, IL is much more common
than you would believe, and it Ia
most eff ,soious where person
through hemorrhags or from other
causes is at deaths door, from loss OF
blood. Nor is the operation difficult
one; on the contrary 1t is so simple that
any intelligent person Can, if properly
instructed, perform 1t. The syringe
is the only thing necessary topurohsse,
as cups and linen can usually be oh.
tanned free. If the operation was
generally understood, I feel confident
that the loss of life at railroad accl.
dents, boiler explosions and other like
casualties, where persons In many
cases die from absolute loss Of blood,
would be much less"
"What Is the ueual method of trans.
fusing the blood4'
"Well. after first tightly binding
the arms of the person from whom
the blood is to be taken and of the
person to whom the blood is trans
fused, an incision Is made In one OF
the veins Of the former and
the blood which flows from
1t Is placed in one or two
cups or bowls. Then the blood
which meantime has been thoroughly
beaten to prevent cosgulstion must be
strained through a piece OF linen into
another cup AID It Is then ready for
placing into the arm of the patient.
This Is done slowly-a little at a time
by the aid Of the syring through q
puncture made in a vein in the arm,
and the operation is done. 1t is, as
You will see, simple and almost inva.
risb'y effective. OF course care must
be taken to have a healthy person to
draw from, as otherwise any disease
might be transferred, though, to my
mind, / would sooner have an un.
healthy person to draw from than
none at all. / most earnestly advo.
cate the teaching of such simple life.
saving remedies In the. higher GLASSES
of our schOOls. IA thew ara henei Al N 1