A Brief History
On June 15, 1667, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys, personal physician to King Louis XIV, performed the first human blood transfusion. The patient was a 15 year old boy who had been treated by using leeches to suck out “the bad blood.”
Digging Deeper
Denys used about 12 oz. of Sheep’s blood and the boy lived, probably the first ever transfusion that did not kill the patient. Trying this technique on other patients, using small quantities of sheep or cow blood so as not to overload the allergic response was not so successful and some of his patients died.
Denys was accused by a patient’s wife of murder, but he was acquitted and the man was found to have died by arsenic poisoning, quite possibly from the wife. After his failures and his murder trial, Denys had had enough an quit the practice of medicine.
Human blood transfusions would not become a viable practice until after 1902 when Dr. Karl Landsteiner of Austria discovered the 4 blood groups (A, AB, B and O.) Another major factor was the discovery of the Rhesus (Rh) factor (positive or negative) by Landsteiner and Dr. Alexander Wiener in 1937. (Meanwhile, Landsteiner along with Dr. Erwin Popper discovered the polio virus as well.) Dr. George Washington Crile performed the first successful human blood transfusion during surgery at St. Alexis Hospital (Cleveland, Ohio) in 1908.
Of course, today blood transfusions are a safe and common life saving practice thanks to the researchers that struggled to find the correct methods over the years. Luckily for French patients, after the Denys murder trial animal to human transfusions were no longer allowed.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Moore, Pete. Blood and Justice: The 17 Century Parisian Doctor Who Made Blood Transfusion History. Wiley, 2002.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2599 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=2599">26 Comments
I couldn’t imagine getting any type of animal’s blood put in me!
It is compelling to think that the first attempt at a blood transfusion occurred in 1667, and it was not perfected until the early 1900s. The evolution of science is definitely neat to observe!
It is surprising that blood transfusions are now considered safe after the first safe one was only performed in 1902. Science has come a long way in a short amount of time.
I wonder how many died between 1667 and 1908 as a result of bad blood transfusions?
We give a lot of credit to doctors and scientists who are the first to discover or successfully perform something, but their patients are also extremely brave. The huge gap between the blood transfusion with the sheep and the discovery of blood groups shows how long it takes for medical discoveries to result.
As a doctor during that period, it must have been pretty scary to attempt such a medical procedure. If you fail, you get blamed for the death of the patient. If you succeed, you are expected to replicate it. It doesn’t surprise me that he quit the profession.
The thought of transfusing animal blood into humans makes my skin crawl! Thank goodness for Dr. Landsteiner and Dr. Washington Crile and modern medicine.
Blood transfusions involving human blood and sheep blood is definitely bizarre. I still cannot believe that this was a successful transfusion, especially since it occurred in 1667. I also found it interesting that the first human blood transfusion occurred in Cleveland, Ohio.
The new technology and advanced research that has made blood transfusions possible are amazing. I could never imagine receiving blood from an animal such as a cow or sheep. I could see why the patient’s wife accused Denys of murder. It was a smart way to try and get away with your own husbands death.
I would have never imagined that the first attempt of a blood transfusion happened in 1667 and animal blood was used! What is even more mesmerizing, however, is that blood transfusions were not perfected for almost another 240 years. The advancement of technology is really fascinating!
it is amazing to me what was considered “modern” medicine at the time. To people today, using animal blood in a medical transfusion would be laughed it. However, in 1667, Dr. Denys was probably considered one of the foremost physicians in the world. It makes you think what people in 400 years will be saying about our medical practices and procedures.
Trial and error throughout history seems to be the way we discover things. How far medicine has come is tremendous. I hope that it keeps moving forward. Science and advancements in medicine are huge for the human race, and we continue to move forward from it. We went from animal to human blood transfusion in the past to human to human blood transfusions that save lives today!
Modern medicine has come a long way since then. It is a weird idea to use sheep and cow blood for a blood transfusion but it is incredible that it was a success. It is unfortunate that Deny quit the medical profession, because he could have been an amazing man during his time. He was trying to do good and should not be blamed for his few failures.
I’m glad we live in a time when we don’t just “go for it” anymore when it comes to medicine. it seems that many operations were attempted on patients without any real evidence to suggest the operation would be a success or not. We’re lucky to live in a time when there are safety regulations in place and doctors can no longer wing it when it comes to new medical practices. i also can’t believe the romans thought the liver turned food into blood! and that the reason for the first blood transfusions was to obtain some element of the animal used in the transfusion. Its crazy learning what used to be considered science.
We sure do live in different times! Today’s medicine is so regulated and as precise as humanly possible, so it’s quite bizarre to read about past practices where the doctor would often chance it to see if something works or not. Good or bad, that is how it worked. I am just shocked that the parents of that 15 year old boy allowed him to undergo the transfusion, when his other patients died from the same procedure. This also shows how we as a society evolved where we do not permit such practices anymore.
It’s nice to live during a time when simple medical procedures like a blood transfusion are safe and simple. It’s unfortunate for the people that did not do so well with the sheep or cow blood and died, but I suppose they would have died anyway so it was worth the shot to live. Discovering the four different blood types was a huge step towards making these procedures possible.
Animal blood being put into a human makes me cringe, but I guess during that time period it was somewhat normal. Amazing where we have come in time with science these days.
It’s amazing to see an idea that started all the way back in 1667 grow so much over the years. When Denys failed it seems as though the idea got a little lost for awhile until Landsteiner discovered new information about our blood around 1902. Technology has advanced so much over the years that blood transfusions are common practice today.
I find it amazing that practices like blood transfusions started taking place back in 1667. Although it worked, using an animals blood to save a human seems crazy to me and also seems unsafe. I find it hard to believe that this worked and that the boy was able to survive after this transfusion. It is awesome to think how far we have come since these days.
It is surprising that animal blood had successfully been transfused and worked in a human. After all the discoveries with blood types, I find it a miracle that transfusing animal blood into a human was actually successful. It is also amazing to me that something such as blood transfusions date back to 1667. I feel lucky to be alive in a time with great medical advances.
It is very interesting how advanced we have become, and how so many brilliant people took ones idea and keep building on it to make something more and more advanced.
Injecting another animal’s blood into a human seems like a bad idea now, but back then science was in it’s early stages.
Fifty years from now, our kids will be reading about our medical procedures and will think to themselves, “why would they ever think that that was a good idea?”
I honestly think that this was really unsanitary and clearly unsafe. But it is really neat that this medical treatment is still in tact and safely being done today!
Good thing the doctors figured that out. It would be pretty weird nowadays getting blood from an animal. Shocking that this technique worked for a couple people.
Blood transfusion is a beautiful thing and it is interesting to learn about one of the first successful transfusions.
I wonder if, like us, animals also have blood types that could somehow correspond to ours. Maybe that explains how the boy lived after the sheep blood transfusion? Also I am surprised that it took so long to even think to try it with humans, even with no knowledge of the blood types then.