Since many of the WT leaders (notably Fred Franz) were born or grew up
in this time period, this sheds some light on how they may have been
preconditioned to view blood.
Interesting read, and the perceived connection to sexuality in the Victorian Era can't be denied.
However Franz' primary objection to transfusion was a different misconception about blood from the same time period
In his 1898 novel, War Of The Worlds, H.G. Wells depicted
the earth under attack by a race that had evolved past the need of
eating to obtain nourishment. These beings, in fact, had no digestive
organs of any sort:
"Entrails they had none. They did not eat,
much less digest. Instead, they took the fresh, living blood of other
creatures and injected it into their veins…..The physiological
advantages of the practice of injection are undeniable, if one thinks of
the tremendous waste of human time and energy occasioned by eating and
the digestive process. Our bodies are half made up of glands and tubes
and organs, occupied in turning heterogeneous food into blood." (Emphasis Mine)
The mistaken belief that our bodies convert food directly to blood and that blood is the food upon which we are internally sustained was the basis for connecting transfusion to Biblical injunctions against eating blood.
There are lots of examples that could be cited where this connection is most clear. Here is one from the July 1, 1951 issue of The Watchtower on page 415:
