A great idea: blood transfusions!
Today thanks to Hank Green (video below) I learnt something interesting about blood transfusions. The first experiments were performed in the 17th century by William Harvey (1578-1657) and they were between animals, specifically dogs. The first documented transfusion involving humans and animals (yes... animals!) were performed in France by Jean Baptiste Devys (1643-1704). On June 15, 1667, he successfully transfused the blood of a sheep into a 15-years old boy, who, surprisingly , suvived! His survival was probably due to the small amount of blood tranfused. Richard Lower (1631-1691) in England also performed similar experiments between animals (especially sheep) and humans. The reason behind these experiments was the belief that blood was responsible for the personality person. So getting a bit of blood from a gentle animal might quiet the tempestuous spirit of an agitated person and that the shy might be made outgoing by blood from more so...