Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1884-06-23
THE TRANSMISSION OF BLOOD.
Persons who Op0n Their Veins for
the benefit OF Others

81 have Just been reading a ictter
from Richmond said DIR. Joseph w.
Howe to Herald reporter, 8 with regard
TO the result 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
hemorrhagc. It was for this last COM
plication 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 ne was
enabled to make his will and arrange all
his business"
Where did you get the blood from."
asked the reporter
From young negro man., an
swered DIR. Howe. 81 injected seven
ounces Of his blood into the gentleman's
veinso
sis it difficult to get blood when it is
necessary to perform the operation I'M
mediately2'
mot at all. 1t is always easy to get
it by buying it or begging for it. There
is an old fellow on the ferryboat run
ming between Fifty-second street and
the Charity hospital whom | have bled
four times within two years In four diff
ferent cases. He never seemed to mind
it. On the contrary. he always seemed
to be the 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 wears of age. who takes his whisky
without too much water in it. Each
time that he assisted me in the operation
/ gave him two or three dollars and he
was perfectly satisfied.
Are there any persons who hire them
selves out for this purpose?'
"Oh, no; the operation IS not per-
formed frequently enough for that When
it is necessary to transfuse blood in
hospital there is always some one hanging
about who is only too willing for small
amount to become donor, as the tech
nical term is. In private practice rela-
tives of the patient usually give their
blood. And here / am reminded Of two
points. In the case related of the Rich
mond gentleman it was thought that as he
had hole in his lung the ncwly-injected
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 tend
ency to coagulate attthe broken ends of
the vessels and so prevent further bleed
ing The other point is that blood taken
from a relative of the 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 relative, but
what the physiological cause is | don't
know. There is general belief, in fact,
that the blood of a person is poisonous to
a relative of that person.
Il remember the case Of a clergyman,
continued Dr. Howe, "upon whose wife
asevere surgical operation was performed.
1t was necessary to transfuse blood into
her veins, and her husband was the
donor His blood coagulated almost
Immediately after it was drawn. The
anxiety of the donors often produces
an unpleasant effect upon them. The loss
of the blood has nothing to do with it.
/ knew of the case of man who had in
innate relations with a woman twenty
two years old She had been the victim
of malpractice. The man gave some of
his blood for the TRANSMISSION and imme-
diately 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 few
days.
. But in case of emergency, when
there are no relatives or friends near by,
what are you to do!"
''Oh, 90 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 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 ex-
perience One was in the case of a
woman uptown here who was suddenly
taken with violent hemorrhage. Isenr
her husband out after a man, and he
caught one on a corner The fellow was
drunk, and he tainted, or pretended to,
and / didn't get enough blood from him.
] sent the husband out after another
man, but he didn't get back in time, and
the woman died the next day"
'sIs,the blood of the lower animals
ever used in TRANSMISSION e.
No; the experiment has been tried,
but it was always attended with danger.
l don't know why. but there is some diff
ference in the blood corpuscles or in the
chemical constitution of the blood that