“The Blood Fights on in Other Veins”: Norman Bethune and the Transfusion of Cadaver Blood in the Spanish Civil War

During the Spanish Civil War, Dr. Norman Bethune instituted a research laboratory to determine whether the blood from cadavers could be transfused into wounded soldiers and civilians at the front. Dr. Herman J. Muller joined him in this effort carrying out extensive experimentation into the technique and practice of such transfusions. At the same time, Bethune was in frequent contact with Dr. Reginald Saxton wholater publicly advocated that the Spanish government should organize a large-scale supply of cadaver blood to the front-line hospitals. Recent evidence suggests that Saxton carried out cadaveric transfusions to an extent not previously recognized.