NLM logo

Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of NatureFrankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature

From the Digital Gallery

A man (Luigi Galvani) wearing a suit and wig, seated and looking to the left.

Luigi Galvani, ca. 1879

View theDigital Gallery

ExhibitionBoundary Crossing / 1818

Return to Exhibition
<a href='carousel41.html'>1. Blundell’s Gravitator from <em>The Lancet</em>, 1829</a><h4>Blundell’s Gravitator from <em>The Lancet</em>, June 13, 1829</h4> <h5>Courtesy National Library of Medicine</h5> <p>The medical journal <em>The Lancet</em> recorded the dramatic success of blood transfusion. Reporting on a woman who received her husband’s blood, the journal noted, ”Life seemed to be immediately reanimated as by an electric spark.”</p> <a href='carousel43.html'>3. Cross section of Blundell’s Gravitator, 1824</a><h4>Cross section of Blundell’s Gravitator from <em>Researches Physiological and Pathological</em>, 1824</h4> <h5>Author: James Blundell (1790–1878)</h5> <h5>Courtesy National Library of Medicine</h5><p>James Blundell developed a copper cup with a metal handle to collect blood and funnel it from the donor to the recipient. After a woman received a few ounces of her husband’s blood, the medical journal, <em>The Lancet</em>, noted in 1834, “Life seemed to be immediately reanimated as by an electric spark.”</p> <a href='carousel42.html'>2. Diagram of Blundell’s Gravitator from <em>The Lancet</em>, 1829</a><h4>Diagram of Blundell’s Gravitator from <em>The Lancet</em>, June 13, 1829</h4> <h5>Courtesy National Library of Medicine</h5><p>The “gravitator” could be used to transfer blood in a “regulated stream” from one individual to another. James Blundell, who believed that blood had the power to restore life itself, invented the device.</p>
1. Blundell’s Gravitator from The Lancet, 1829

Blundell’s Gravitator from The Lancet, June 13, 1829

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

The medical journal The Lancet recorded the dramatic success of blood transfusion. Reporting on a woman who received her husband’s blood, the journal noted, ”Life seemed to be immediately reanimated as by an electric spark.”

View
Back to Top