1664

Richard Lower performs first successful animal blood transfusion (dog to dog), using hollow reeds and tin pipes in place of Wren’s porcupine quills and Potter’s windpipe. After a year of experimentation, he realized he had to connect arteries to veins to use the pumping action of the heart. When he did so, “the blood flowed more freely, the arterial flow actively propelling the liquid through the connecting mechanism.” In February 1665, Lowe performed his transfusion experiment before an audience at a meeting of the Royal Society attended by Robert Boyle, who, at meeting of January 1666 read a list of 16 transfusion questions he wanted answered in subsequent experiments (Craddock, 72-73, 76).