Table Of ContentBoel 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
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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
