Strange Blood: The Rise and Fall of Lamb Blood Transfusion in 19th Century Medicine and Beyond

Description

In the mid-1870s, the experimental therapy of lamb blood transfusion spread like an epidemic across Europe and the USA. Doctors tried it as a cure for tuberculosis, pellagra and anemia; proposed it as a means to reanimate seemingly dead soldiers on the battlefield. It was a contested therapy because it meant crossing boundaries and challenging taboos. Was the transfusion of lamb blood into desperately sick humans really defensible? The book takes the reader on a journey into hospital wards and lunatic asylums, physiological laboratories and 19th century wars. It presents a fascinating story of medical knowledge, ambitions and concerns - a story that provides lessons for current debates on the morality of medical experimentation and care. Cover Contents Prologue Introduction: ‘The mighty influence of strange blood’ PART I: SETTING THE SCENE 1. Using the blood of others The beginnings The return Direct or indirect transfusion? Gaining acceptance The revival of lamb blood transfusion 2. Ambitions and connections The sanguine local doctor The polemicist The entrepreneur The context PART II: PRACTICES 3. Blood on the battlefield Wars, wars, wars War‐time modernization Using Roussel’s apparatus – or not? The animal blood alternative Saving the apparently dead War and medical innovation 4. Blood for the lungs Consumption challenges The benefits of lamb blood Performing transfusions Experiencing lamb blood transfusion Getting better? Still worth trying? 5. Asylum experiments Pellagrous conditions Testing transfusion Transfusion and the Risorgimento of Italian science First experiences A transfusion competition The Brescia experiment Understanding improvement Assessing experiments PART III: CONTROVERSY 6. Proofs and refutations Bedside medicine Hospital medicine Laboratory medicine Laboratory experiments contested Clinical experience contested The problem with statistics 7. Transgressions Using animals Crossing boundaries Accepting transgression Was it worth it? Overstepping boundaries PART IV: THE FALL 8. Winding up The condemnation Understanding blood Lessons learnt Human trajectories No more blood on the battlefield? Epilogue: The return The advent of serotherapy Hasse vindicated? French interventions Notes Sources and Literature Archives Websites Literature Acknowledgements Index of Places Index of Names