Description
Book SynopsisIn 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.
Table of ContentsPrologue; Introduction: 'The mighty influence of strange blood'; Using the blood of others; Ambitions and connections; Blood on the battlefield; Blood for the lungs; Asylum experiments; Proofs and refutations; Transgressions; Winding up; Epilogue: The return; Notes; Sources and Literature; Acknowledgements; Index of Places; Index of Names.
