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Peter Sahlins · The Public Domain Review · 2023

Beast in the Blood: Jean Denis and the “Transfusion Affair”

Beginning in the spring of 1667, public opinion in Paris was rocked by a remarkable affair involving domesticated animals: the first practical experiments to transfuse animal blood into humans for therapeutic purposes.

Why we picked it

The 1660s controversy over animal-to-human transfusion exposes how experimental medicine, theology, publicity, and ideas about human nature once collided.

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Link last checked 2026-07-15. Stumble Reads publishes recommendations and short commentary; the original work belongs to its author and publisher.