Since the middle of the 17th century, doctors tried to perform the first blood transfusions between animals, but no one dared to experiment on humans. The English who described blood circulation at that time remained reluctant to take such a decision, and the French Academy of Sciences prevented its members from embarking on such an adventure. However, a French man dared to inject the blood of a lamb into the veins of a 15-year-old boy.

And the French magazine Le Point (Le Point) said, in a joint report between Frederic Luino and Gwendolyn dos Santos, that the man who did this act, Jean-Baptiste Denis (28 years old at the time), was famous for giving lectures on mathematics, physics and medicine at his home in Paris. He claimed to be a graduate of the faculties of medicine in Montpellier and Reims, but no trace of him was found in their archives, and no trace of his alleged degrees in mathematics and philosophy were found.

Denis was mistakenly said to have been the butler of King Louis XIV, but in any case he was able to buy a regular doctor's job from the king and was chosen by a group of scholars and philosophers who meet regularly in the house of one of the first academics.

Jean-Baptiste Denis (1635-1704) was the first to transfuse blood from an animal to a human (networking sites)

unimaginable

This scientific group passionate about scientific experiments commented on attempts to transfuse blood between animals, and wondered about the possibility of achieving such a thing in humans, and Dennis was one of those who were convinced of the necessity of experimenting with it, especially since the tools necessary for the operation were present, and he decided with the consent of others to perform the first human blood transfusion Assisted by surgeon Paul Emris.

The two men needed a volunteer, and they found him in a young man about 15 years old, who had a fever and was almost stupid, who had about 20 bleeding times and his condition did not improve, so a strong pregnancy blood transfusion might bring him back to his feet, as the two men thought.

curious audience

On June 15, 1667, a large and curious crowd rushed into the great living room of the Hôtel de Montmort to see what the two therapists were doing, the load being tied up without anaesthesia, and the sleepy boy sitting on a chair. Before he grabbed the boy's arm and drew about a third of a liter of blood from it to make room for new blood, then he inserted a tube into his vein, before connecting the tubes with a third tube.

The audience held their breath before slowly loosening the bandage on the lamb's leg to allow blood to flow, and the boy did not show any reaction, rather he seemed more awake, and the surprise - as the magazine says - stood on his feet after days, although the success of such an operation does not seem likely. However, the amount of blood transfused may not have been sufficient to provoke a significant rejection reaction.

The Academy of Sciences banned blood transfusions and it only became possible in humans after blood types were discovered in 1902 (Pixabe)

backlash

A few days later, the elated Dennis successfully performed a second blood transfusion for a strong man (45 years old), and it succeeded as the previous one, but the situation began to deteriorate with the third attempt, with a young Swedish baron whose doctors lost all hope to save him, so his family called Dennis as a last resort, after hearing As for the good results of his method, this time he decided to inject it with the blood of a calf.

After a first blood transfusion, the young baron felt a short-lived improvement, and he died during the second blood transfusion, and things started to turn for the worse with the fourth blood transfusion for a madman named Antoine Mourouy (34 years), who Dennis imagined would calm down by injecting him with calf blood.

futile attempts

Dennis stopped the transfusion immediately after the maniac complained of severe heat, and then gave him a second transfusion two days later, but Moroi's reaction this time was violent, and it should have stopped there, but Dennis returned the ball a few days later and died The insane person was in a third blood transfusion, so his widow filed a complaint against Dennis, who was acquitted by the trial.

After this experience, Dennis permanently abandoned medicine, and in 1670 the Academy of Sciences banned any new attempts at blood transfusion, and blood transfusions became possible between humans only after the discovery of blood groups in 1902.