NLM logo

FrankensteinFrankenstein

FrankensteinFrankenstein

Digital Gallery Browse

James Blundell, 1836

English physician, James Blundell (1791–1878) performed the first successful human-to-human blood transfusion in 1825. He developed an apparatus called a "gravitator," a copper cup with a metal handle to collect blood and funnel it from the donor to the recipient. Blundell developed this life-saving technique in response to his patients dying of hemorrhage, excessive bleeding, during childbirth.

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

A man (James Blundell) in suit sitting and looking to the right.

  • Topic:

    Blood Transfusion

  • Creator:

    Henry Room, painter (1802–1850),
    John Cochran, engraver (1821–1865)
  • A man (James Blundell) in suit sitting and looking to the right.