OK, you hinted at the thorax which is heart and lungs. Is this some sort of primitive medical ventilator? My only other guess would be a primitive heart by-pass pump.
It is not a ventilator, but you are very close. A little sleuthing on the last pic I posted would probably nail it.
This thing is a head scratcher. OK, so it has nothing to do w/ the heart? What is cylinder made of? It appears to be acrylic. I am trying to figure out what has turned it red. C'mon Red55, give us a little help dammit!
This is what I was thinking it was a primitive version of: http://www.indiamart.com/medical-engg/anesthesia-ventilators.html
Think of extracting gasses rather than inserting them. Ok, after re-reading the page where I found this, scratch what I said earlier. Bad clue on my part.