Boel Berner Strange Blood Medical Humanities | Volume 5 Boel Berner is a sociologist, historian, and professor emerita at Linköping Uni- versity in Sweden. In her research she investigates the character and power of ex- pertise, historically and today. She has studied education and work, the gendered nature of technical knowledge, household modernization, and issues of risk. Her current work is oriented towards the history of medicine. It focuses, besides ques- tions of blood donation and transfusion, on the politics of blood group analysis in the interwar years. Boel Berner Strange Blood The Rise and Fall of Lamb Blood Transfusion in 19th Century Medicine and Beyond Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche National- bibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http:// dnb.d-nb.de This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 (BY- ND) license, which means that the text may be shared and redistributed, provided credit is given to the author, but may not be remixed, transformed or build upon. 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Cover layout: Maria Arndt, Bielefeld Cover illustration: Francisco de Zurbarán, Agnus Dei (1635-1640), © Museo Nacio- nal del Prado Printed by Majuskel Medienproduktion GmbH, Wetzlar Print-ISBN 978-3-8376-5163-8 PDF-ISBN 978-3-8394-5163-2 https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839451632 Printed on permanent acid-free text paper. Contents Prologue ........................................................................... 9 Introduction:‘Themightyinfluenceofstrangeblood’..............................11 PART I: SETTING THE SCENE 1.Usingthebloodofothers ........................................................17 Thebeginnings.............................................................................................18 Thereturn....................................................................................................21 Directorindirecttransfusion?........................................................................23 Gainingacceptance.......................................................................................25 Therevivaloflambbloodtransfusion............................................................... 28 2.Ambitionsandconnections .....................................................31 Thesanguinelocaldoctor...............................................................................31 Thepolemicist.............................................................................................34 Theentrepreneur.........................................................................................36 Thecontext..................................................................................................40 PART II: PRACTICES 3.Bloodonthebattlefield ........................................................45 Wars,wars,wars...........................................................................................46 War-timemodernization ................................................................................49 UsingRoussel’sapparatus–ornot?..................................................................51 Theanimalbloodalternative...........................................................................53 Savingtheapparentlydead............................................................................ 55 Warandmedicalinnovation............................................................................ 58 4.Bloodforthelungs ..............................................................61 Consumptionchallenges.................................................................................62 Thebenefitsoflambblood............................................................................. 66 Performingtransfusions.................................................................................67 Experiencinglambbloodtransfusion.................................................................72 Gettingbetter?..............................................................................................74 Stillworthtrying?..........................................................................................77 5.Asylumexperiments.............................................................81 Pellagrousconditions.................................................................................... 82 Testingtransfusion....................................................................................... 86 TransfusionandtheRisorgimentoofItalianscience............................................88 Firstexperiences..........................................................................................90 Atransfusioncompetition...............................................................................95 TheBresciaexperiment..................................................................................96 Understandingimprovement............................................................................99 Assessingexperiments..................................................................................101 PART III: CONTROVERSY 6.Proofsandrefutations......................................................... 105 Bedsidemedicine........................................................................................ 108 Hospitalmedicine..........................................................................................111 Laboratorymedicine.....................................................................................114 Laboratoryexperimentscontested..................................................................117 Clinicalexperiencecontested.........................................................................120 Theproblemwithstatistics............................................................................122 7.Transgressions .................................................................127 Usinganimals............................................................................................. 128 Crossingboundaries....................................................................................133 Acceptingtransgression............................................................................... 134 Wasitworthit?............................................................................................137 Oversteppingboundaries.............................................................................. 139 PART IV: THE FALL 8.Windingup .................................................................... 145 Thecondemnation........................................................................................147 Understandingblood.................................................................................... 148 Lessonslearnt.............................................................................................151 Humantrajectories......................................................................................153 Nomorebloodonthebattlefield?....................................................................156 Epilogue:Thereturn.............................................................. 159 Theadventofserotherapy............................................................................ 160 Hassevindicated?........................................................................................162 Frenchinterventions.....................................................................................164 Notes..............................................................................167 SourcesandLiterature........................................................... 183 Archives....................................................................................................183 Websites....................................................................................................183 Literature..................................................................................................183 Acknowledgements ..............................................................203 IndexofPlaces...................................................................205 IndexofNames...................................................................209 Prologue ItislateMay1873,springtimeintheHarzMountainsinnorthernGermany. Flowersareinbloom,birdsaresinging,butinthehomeofHeinrichKrüger,a cattledealerinthevillageofSchwenda,thereissorrowanddespair.Thirteen- yearoldHermineKrügerhassufferedfromdiphtheriasincetheautumnof 1872.Nowherconditionisdeteriorating.Shehassevereabdominalpain,a forcedandwheezingrespiration,strongsweating,noappetite. OscarHasse,awell-knowndoctorfromthetownofNordhausensome40 km away,is called for.Upon arrival,he finds Hermine in bed,with a pale, bloated appearance, short, groaning breath, very weak and rapid pulse. It turnsoutthatshealsosuffersfromaseverebronchialcatarrh.Sheissoweak that,tosit,shehastobesupportedbyseveralpersons–shecannotkeepher headup.Thevarioustonicsprescribedhavebeenofnouse.Sheseemsbeyond salvation. Upontheurgentdemandofthefamily,Hassedecidestoperformablood transfusionbutnot,ashehaspreviouslydone,withhumanblood.Thegirl’s relativesarejusttooweakthemselves.Instead,astrongsix-month-oldlamb isprocured.Hassetiesittoaboard,exposesitscarotidartery,andclosesit temporarily with a clamp.He then inserts a glass tube into the vessel and connectsittoarubbertubecontainingacarbonateofsodasolution.Asec- ondglasstubeisinsertedintothevenamedianaofthesickchild.Thelambis broughtintothesickroomandlaidnexttothepatientwithitsneckcloseto thegirl’sarm.Hasseunfastenstheclampandletsthelamb’sbloodpushout thesodasolution.Hethenswiftlyconnectsthetwocannulaswiththerub- bertube.Propelledbytheheartbeatofthelamb,itsbloodnowflowsintothe child. Andbehold!Thetransfusionisanordeal,butthegirl’sforcesreturn.She sleeps well, eats with an appetite, and has no more stomach pains. Hasse bringshertoNordhausenfortreatmentwithgymnasticsandgalvaniccur- 10 StrangeBlood rentstostrengthenhermusclesafteralmostayearinbed.Bytheendofthe summer,HermineKrügerseemsfullyrestored.1