Blood Work (24 page)
Authors: Holly Tucker
A Chronology
February 1665 (England):
Richard Lower conducts the first dog-to-dog transfusion experiments.
April 1665âFebruary 1666:
Great Plague of London.
September 2â5, 1666:
Great Fire of London.
November 14, 1666:
The Royal Society returns to animal transfusion experiments.
January 22âMarch 21, 1667 (France):
Claude Perrault, Adrien Auzout, and Louis Gayant begin animal transfusion experiments on behalf of the French Academy of Sciences.
March 3, 1667:
Jean-Baptiste Denis begins independent transfusion trials and conducts more than twenty canine experiments as well as mixtures across different species (cows-dogs; horses-goats).
June 15, 1667:
First animal-to-human blood transfusion performed by Denis, who transfuses a fifteen-year-old boy with lamb's blood.
November 23, 1667 (England):
Royal Society members Richard Lower and Edmund King, transfuse Arthur Coga with
lamb's blood. Coga is transfused a second time on December 14, 1667.
December 19, 1667 (France):
Denis transfuses the madman Mauroy with calf's blood. Two transfusions follow over the course of two weeks. Mauroy later dies.
April 16, 1668:
Trial at the Châtelet for the death of Antoine Mauroy.
December 1669:
French parliament officially bans transfusion.
1818 (England):
James Blundell performs the first successful human-to-human blood transfusion.
1867 (England):
Joseph Lister uses antiseptics to prevent infection in blood transfusions.
1901 (Austria):
Karl Landsteiner discovers first three human blood groups (A, B, O). Blood type AB is discovered the following year.
1908 (France):
Alexis Carrel develops a method to prevent clotting by stitching recipient and donor vessels together; he received the 1912 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work.
1914:
Anticoagulant sodium citrate is developed, which allows for blood storage and facilitates transfusion.
1932 (Russia):
Lenigrad hospital establishes first blood bank.
1937 (United States):
First American blood bank is established at Cook County Hospital (Chicago). Over next two years blood banks are established in Cincinnati, Miami, New York, and San Francisco.
1947 (United States):
American Association of Blood Banks is created.
I
had the very good fortune of being surrounded by many supportive and enthusiastic friends and colleagues while researching and writing this book. First and foremost, my thanks go out to christine Jones and Miranda Nesler, who read every word of the manuscript several times over (actually many more times than that) and were always as honest and blunt in their criticism as they were their encouragement. Miranda, an equestrian as well as an academic, also helped make sure that every detail rang trueâeven if it meant containing her frustration with me for clearly having no clue about the texture of horses' noses and tongues.
Faith hamlin also believed in this book from the start.
Blood Work
could not have found a better home, and I owe it to Faith for helping to make it happen and for being a trusted source of advice about the intricacies of the publishing world. When I call her my book guru, I mean it. I am also grateful to courtney Miller-callihan for all of her help and encouragement.
At Norton, I won the lottery having angela von der lippe as
my editor. Angela has worked with many of the writers in the history of science and medicine that I admire most, and it showed in her smart and probing questions that always pushed me to revise deeplyâand for the better. Laura Romain also understood where I was heading with the book even before it felt like I did and shepherded the manuscript deftly through the publication process. Thanks as well to everyone at Norton who helped dot the i's, get the words printed on the page, and help put the book into readers' hands: Don Rifkin, Sue Llewellyn, Erica Stern, Rebecca Carlisle, Jess Purcell, and Melissa Whitley.
The seeds of this book were sown while I was a fellow and codirector of the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities interdisciplinary seminar on race and sexuality before 1700. Leah Marcus, David Wasserstein, Dyan Elliott, Lynn Ramey, Katie Crawford, Lynn Enterline, Carlos Jáuregui, and Jean Feerick could be counted on for their expertise and laughter around the seminar table; and Mona Frederick, Lacey Galbraith, and Galyn Martin provided a welcome space, administrative support, and great conversation during my year in residence at the Warren Center. I also am grateful to colleagues at Vanderbilt and well beyond for their advice and suggestions: Jay Clayton, Ellen Wright Clayton, Larry Churchill, Arleen Tuchman, Ed Friedman, Jérôme Brillaud, Matt Ramsey, Carl Johnson, Kendal Broadie, Mark Woefle, David Boyd, Michael Bess, Jeffrey Tlumak, Carlina de la Cova, Marri Knadle, Craig Koslofsky, Anthony Turner, Peter Mancall, David Kertzer, Jonathan Sawday, and Matthew Cobb.
Vanderbilt provost Richard McCarty and my department chair, Lynn Ramey, helped me find both the time and resources that were critical to my work on the book. My research during the early stages of the book benefited as well from the generous support of the Wellcome Library for the History of Medicine,
the Newberry Library, and the Francis C. Wood Institute for the History of Medicine.
Behind every good research-based book is an even better librarian. And in this case, I have a large handful of librarians and library staff members to thank for their herculean efforts in helping me gain access to the texts and images I needed for this project. Mary Teloh, Jim Thweatt, Yvonne Boyer, and Jim Toplon at Vanderbilt University; Crystal Smith at the National Library of Medicine; Rachael Johnson at the Wellcome Library for the History of Medicine (London); Estelle Lambert and Bernadette Molitor at the Bibliothèque Inter-Universitaire de Médicine (Paris); Christiane Pavel at the Archives de l'Académie des Sciences; and Maria Conforti at the Università de Sapienzia (Rome). This book similarly could not have been written without the superb and important work of scholars in the field. These sources are listed in the notes and the bibliography. However, I would like to call out a few scholars who,
à leur insu
, were my sure-footed companions on the journey: Harcourt Brown, Marie Boas Hall, Lisa Jardine, Robert G. Frank, Joan DeJean, Roy Porter, and Orest Ranum.
My research assistants, Jared Katz, Rob Watson, Megan Russell, Kiana Jansen, and Megan Moran, went above and beyond the call of duty in their work on the project. Louis Betty, Essie Assibu, Cate Stewart, and Pierre Hegay stepped in to help on the technical side of manuscript preparation when deadlines loomed; and Todd Dodson and Chris Noel took care of the inevitable computer breakdowns along the way.
Dr. John B. Breinig read the full manuscript with a physician's eyes; I see John, a talented photographer as well, when I catch a glimpse of the author photo on the book jacket. We weren't sure how long we had left with him at the time, which made the afternoon he and I spent taking the pictures all the more pre
cious. Thanks also go out to Lauren Schmitzer, Mary Lawrence Breinig, and Janice Haithcoat, who offered feedback on various parts of the book. Liz Shadbolt and my mother, Carolyn Tucker, also read an early version of the book and ended up saying just the right things at just the right time. Their comments meant reworking what felt like the entire manuscript, but there is little doubt in my mind that the book is much, much better for their input. Al Hamscher also talked me down from the ledge after months of hitting my head against the intricacies of French parliamentary procedures and documents. I look forward to more martini-fueled conversations about our shared obsessions for seventeenth-century life.
Writing can be a solitary endeavor, but I've lucked out to be surrounded by good friends who help make it more bearable. Many thanks to Todd Peterson, Roberta Bell, Brooke Ackerly, Lauren Schmitzer, Anita Mahadevan-Jansen, Duco Jansen, Jeff and Rachel Haithcoat, Trish and Chris Juoza-Clark, and Susie and Marvin Quertermous, and the late Elinor Lykins. I'm grateful as well to a number of others who have helped and inspired me along the way: Tracy Barrett, Louhon Tucker, Delia Cabe, Maryn McKenna, Margaret Littman, Dan Ferber, Sandra Gulland, Michelle Moran, all of the FLX crew, Mark Evitts, Sandy Beck-with, Diane Saarinen, Lisa Morosky, Joanne Manaster, Katie Davis, and fellow volunteers at the Nashville Red Cross.
While researching this book, I traveled often to work in specialized library collections abroad and to retrace the steps of my transfusionists in both Paris and London. In many cases, the physical spaces are either no longer there or have been reconfigured in a way that makes their historical significance hard to appreciate fully. This was not at all the case at the Hôtel Montmor. I remember waiting for what seemed like hours one beautiful May day for someone to exit the soaring wood doors of the
still private estate so I could steal a peek of what lay behind. Once I finally gained access, I stood in the
cour d'honneur
, mouth agape and eyes watering. It was precisely as I had imagined it after having worked so long with period documents, maps, and architectural plans. The concierge of the building, Jean-Marie Carpentier, approached me cautiously, likely wondering if I were not a little bit of a nut case. As I explained, the words came tumbling out in near gasps. Up
there
, that's where the Academy met.
This
is the staircase Denis walked up the night of his history-making experiment. Under these dormers
here
is where Mauroy stayed after the transfusion. After Monsieur Carpentier confirmed to my delight that the staircase, the balustrade, the tiles, all of it was in its original state, we spent the rest of the afternoon together exploring the building and what is left of the gardensâteaching each other about the rich history of the building. As we strolled among the ghosts, I was reminded once again of how insanely grateful I am to do the type of work I do as a researcher and a teacher.
And finally, two people in my life probably qualified for sainthood for their stoic patience, kindness, and love while I was in the depths of the book. My husband, Jon Hamilton, held down the fort during my many research trips and took on the one thousand tasks I overlooked even when I was home. Still, he found the time to make a model of Blundell's “Gravitator” blood transfusion device for meâout of Legos. Audrey, my grade-school daughter, kept me on task by having me sign weekly progress contracts. If there is one person I hope to never disappoint by breaking a promise, it is my daughter and especially one who proudly declares to anyone who will listen that her mother is a writer. This book is dedicated to you, Audrey. Heart and soul, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
INTRODUCTION
1
Schmidt, “Transfuse George Washington!” 275â277. See also Morens, “Death of a President.”
2
Thornton,
Papers
, vol. I, 425, 528â529. My emphasis.
3
Ibid.
4
Shapin,
The Scientific Revolution
, 3. Shapin begins his book with what may be my favorite quote ever on the topic: “There was no such thing as the Scientific Revolution, and this is a book about it” (1). If I have retained in some circumstances the upper case
S
and
R
in my references to the “scientific revolution” in the book and in the subtitle, it should be understood only as a way to reference a specific approach in these historiographical debates, rather than an affirmation of a singular worldview or uniformity in cultural practices.
5
Maluf, “History of Blood Transfusion,” 67.
6
Brown, “Jean Denis and the Transfusion of Blood,” 15; Farr, “The First Human Blood Transfusion,” 151; Maluf, “History of Blood Transfusion,” 66â67.
7
Pepys claimed that his stone was a big as a tennis ball. Writing on March 26, 1659, Pepys explained: “This day, it is two years since it pleased God
that I was cut for the stone at Mrs. Turner's in Salisbury Court. And did resolve while I live to keep it a festival, as I did the last year at my house.”
8
Mauriceau,
Maladies
, 357.
9
For an outstanding analysis of blood and racial politics in the twentieth century, see Wailoo,
Drawing Blood
, 134â161.
10
Pete Jarman, 10 March 1945. Cited in Love,
One Blood
, 194. The writer of this letter neglects the fact that black soldiers also fought in World War II.
11
By the early 1950s serological research had successfully determined that Rh-factor sensitization as well as a variety of antibody phenotype groups were an important complicating factor when selecting appropriate donors for blood transfusions. This research also allowed for the possibility of using blood groups as genetic markers for specific diseases and for race-based “traits.” For a detailed analysis of the controversies surrounding race in blood from the 1950s to the mid-1960s, see Kenny, “A Question of Blood, Race, and Politics,” 469. Much of my discussion here is drawn from his work.
12
Scudder, “Sensitising Antigens as Factors in Blood Transfusions,” 99.
13
Ibid., 99â100; Scudder and Wigle, “Safer Transfusions,” 78â79.
14
“Seven at Columbia,”
New York Times
, November 15, 1959, A50; W. L. Thurston, “New Procedure Advocated,” ibid., E11. Cited in Kenny, “A Question of Blood, Race, and Politics,” 462â463.
15
Giblett, “A Critique of the Theoretical Hazard of Inter. vs. Intra-Racial Transfusions,” 233â277. Cited in Kenny, “A Question of Blood, Race, and Politics,” 465.
16
For more on race and transfusion, see Kenny, “A Question of Blood, Race, and Politics” Lederer,
Flesh and Blood
; and Wailoo,
Drawing Blood.
17
Leshner, “Where Science Meets Society,” 815.
CHAPTER 1: THE DOCTOR AND THE MADMAN
1
The 1660s were marked by what is now called the “Little Ice Age,” which brought winter temperatures several degrees lower than in the present day. See Fagan,
The Little Ice Age
, and Brown,
Scientific Organiza
tions
, 78. Writers such as Ismael Boulliau, a contemporary of Denis and Montmor, complained of a cold so intense that ink froze in inkpots.
2
Hussey,
Paris: The Secret History
, 140.
3
The Pont-au-Change as it stands in Paris today replaced its seventeenth-century predecessor in the late 1850s.
4
Hillairet,
Dictionnaire historique
, vol. 2, 303â304. For details on Parisian shops, see Blegny,
Livre Commode
, 238, 261, 192. Dueling was outlawed in 1602.
5
Peuméry,
Jean-Baptiste Denis
, 8â9.
6
Orest Ranum's
Paris in the Age of Absolutism
was an invaluable example and resource as I shaped my own descriptions of the sights, smells, and sounds of seventeenth-century Paris. See especially chaps. 1 and 6.
7
The street has since been renamed the rue du Temple; the estate remains, however, and has recently been restored to its original grandeur.
8
Collins,
The State in Early-Modern France
, xxvii.
9
Tallement des Réaux,
Historiettes
, 294â295.
10
Kerviler, “Henri-Louis Habert de Montmor,” 199.
11
Ibid., 202.
12
For a description of Montmor's typically sanguine demeanor and generous hospitality, see Sorbière to Hobbes, early 1663 in Hobbes,
Correspondence
, vol. 2, 547. Cited in Sarasohn, “Who Was Then That Gentleman?” 219.
13
Emmerez (also spelled “Emerez”) was praised as one of the best surgeons in France and was known for his careful and skillful work. He died on September 7, 1690. See Brown, “Jean Denis and Transfusion of Blood,” 15, and Eloy,
Dictionnaire historique de la médecine
, vol. 2, 138.
14
All details of the transfusion, its circumstances, and its outcome are drawn from: Denis, “Cure of an Inveterate Phrensy” and the many other accounts published in the
Journal des sçavans
and the
Philosophical Transactions
as well as Poterie, Lamy, Martinière, and Oldenburg.
15
Poterie, Letter on transfusion, 28 December 1667, n.p.
16
Watkins, “ABO Blood Group System,” 243.
17
Denis, “Cure of an Inveterate Phrensy,” 622.
18
The irony of the priest's nameâwhich means “young cow” or “veal” in Frenchâwent unnoticed by the self-absorbed Denis and other eyewitnesses to the experiments.
19
Denis, “Cure of an Inveterate Phrensy,” 622.
CHAPTER 2: CIRCULATION
1
For a discussion of the early church attitudes toward dissection, see Park, “Myth 5: That the Medieval Church Prohibited Human Dissection,” 43â49.
2
See Babington, “Newgate in the Eighteenth Century,” 650â657.
3
See Linebaugh, “The Tyburn Riot Against the Surgeons,” 65â118.
4
Harvey also dissected his wife's beloved parrot after its death. See Keele,
William Harvey
, 29, 51.
5
Claudii Galeni,
Opera omnia
, vol. 11, 149, 281.
6
Cited in Elmer,
Health, Disease and Society in Europe, 1500â1800
, 63.
7
Paré,
Workes
, 692.
8
Ibid.
9
Morabia, “P. C. A. Louis and the Birth of Clinical Epidemiology,” 1330.
10
McMullen, “Anatomy of a Physiological Discovery,” 492.
11
Boyle,
A Disquisition about the final causes of natural things.
See “Anatomy of a Physiological Discovery,” 493â494.
12
Harvey,
De motu cordis
, chap. 9.
13
Cited in Frank,
Harvey and the Oxford Physiologists
, 174.
14
Harvey,
De motu cordis
, 96.
15
British Library Add. ms 25071, folios 92â93. See Jardine,
On a Grander Scale
, 122â123, 511n51.
16
Cited in Wren,
Parentalia
, 62â63.
17
Ibid., 123. See also Frank,
Harvey and the Oxford Physiologists
, 171, and Gibson, “Bio-Medical Pursuits,” 334.
18
Frank,
Harvey and the Oxford Physiologists
, 172.
19
Boyle,
Correspondence
, vol. 4, 357ff, and Frank,
Harvey and the Oxford Physiologists
, 172.
20
Oldenburg,
Correspondence
, 356, 366; Boyle,
Usefulnesse
, vol. 2, 64.
CHAPTER 3: THE AGE OF VIVISECTION
1
Descartes,
Discourse on Method
, 73.
2
Ibid.
,
117.
3
Maehle and Tröhler. “Animal Experimentation from Antiquity to the End of the Eighteenth Century,” 26.
4
Guerrini, “The Ethics of Animal Experimentation in Seventeenth-Century England,” 395. Guerrini uses data from Thomas Birch's eighteenth-century
History of the Royal Society of London.
5
Frank,
Harvey and the Oxford Physiologists
, 129â135.
6
Boyle,
Works,
vol. 2, 17. Cited in Guerrini, 396.
7
Hooke, 53. Cited in Jardine,
Ingenious Pursuits
, 116. Hooke's resolve did not last. He gave in to repeated pleas to perform the experiment once more in October 1667.
8
For an excellent overview of approaches to the soul in the Renaissance and seventeenth century, see Garber, “Soul & Mind,” esp. 759â764.
9
Descartes,
Traité de l'homme.
AT XI 174.
10
Wood,
The Life and Times of Anthony Wood,
vol. 2, 12.
11
Frank,
Harvey and the Oxford Physiologists
, 183.
12
Ibid., 182.
13
Lower to Boyle, 18 January 1662.
14
Lower to Boyle, 24 June 1664. See also Frank,
Harvey and the Oxford Physiologists
, 174â175.
15
Lower to Boyle, 8 June 1664. See also Frank,
Harvey and the Oxford Physiologists
, 174â175.
CHAPTER 4: PLAGUE AND FIRE
1
Yeomans,
Comets
, 69; see also Schechner,
Comets
, 17â24.
2
Aristotle,
Meterologica
, 7.
3
Manilius,
Astronomica
1, 893â895.
4
Schechner,
Comets
, 62.
5
Moote and Moote,
The Great Plague
, 20.
6
Evelyn,
Diary
, vi. 3, 638. See also Cockayne,
Hubbub
, 107â130.
7
Evelyn,
Fumifugium
, “To the Readers,” 5, 10. See also Cockayne,
Hubbub
, 181â205.
8
Moote and Moote,
The Great Plague
, 11.
9
Thomas Vincent,
God's Terrible Voice in the City (1667)
. See also Cockayne,
Hubbub
, 157.
10
Pepys,
Diary
, 13 August 1665, 14 September 1665.
11
Moote and Moote,
The Great Plague
, 177.
12
Ibid.
13
Cockayne,
Hubbub
, 214. In his lively treatise
Fumifugium: or the inconvenience of the aer and smoak of London dissipated
(1661), John Evelyn makes a passionate case against “horrid stinks, niderous and unwholesome smells which proceed from the Tallow, and corrupted Blood” of candlemakers and butchers.
14
“The Method Observed in Transfusing the Bloud out of One Animal into Another,”
Philosophical Transactions
20 (December 17, 1666): 353â358, and Lower,
Tractatus de corde
, 172â176.
15
“The Method Observed in Transfusing the Bloud out of One Animal into Another.”
Philosophical Transactions
20 (December 17, 1666): 353.