Reflections

ROBERT BOYLE  The field of blood transfusion can rightly be said to have started in the 1660s.On the 17 th December 1666, Richard Lower an Oxford   physician published a   paper in the Philosophical Transactions which described an experiment in where the procedure was carried out among dogs. The paper can be accessed from JSTOR. To be more precise, he informed the famous Robert Boyle about his work and he communicated this to the journal.  Incidentally, the Philosophical Transactions is the oldest continually published scientific journal in the world.   Incidentally, Aurangzeb still ruled India and the Jantar Mantar was not to be built until more than 50 years later. The description of the experiment would have all the animal activists in the world up in arms. The carotid artery of the first dog was exposed and tied off distally and the proximal part tied with a ligature that could be loosened at will. A (goose?) quill was placed in this and this dog acted as the donor. The