Many times humans dream of immortality or of bringing a loved one back to life. In the 30s, the American scientist Robert Cornwall He invented a system to resurrect the dead. The man believed that, through science, he would be able to bring the dead back to life. Robert began his successful animal experiment.
Five dogs were part of their studies. Precisely, he gave all the animals the name of Lazarus, a character from the Bible resurrected thanks to Jesus.
cornic managed to prove his theory with some of these canines. But he had something much bigger in mind and so he began his own investigation, he wanted to revive a criminal sentenced to death. Will he have succeeded?
His life devoted to death
Robert E. Cornish was born on December 21, 1903 in California, USA. Gifted with an above average mind, he was clearly destined to make history within science. He finished his high school education at the young age of 15 and was considered a child prodigy interested in science.
Robert graduated magna cum laude from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor of Biology three years later, and by 22 had already earned a Ph.D.
Because of his reputation as an up-and-comer in the world of science, Dr. Cornish was quickly hired as a research scientist at Berkley Laboratories. There he was able to develop into various branches and conceive experiments that were not entirely orthodox, such as the one that allowed newspapers to be read underwater through the use of special glasses.
Robert started working on some pretty weird science projects. Gradually, he became highly respected by the research community. In 1931 he began his greatest and most disturbing experiment: resurrect the dead.
The Lazarus Project
Dr. Cornish became obsessed with one word: resurrection. Because he was a respected scientist, he was listened to and the large laboratories lent him their facilities to develop their greatest scientific proposal.
His first experiments were done with three dogs. First, he injected them with ether, a liquid that is used in medicine as an anesthetic, according to the specialist portal Britannica. In this way, the animals died clinically and Robert was able to put his promising theory into practice.
The biologist believed that by repeatedly swinging the corpse up and down (like a seesaw) and applying blood, anticoagulants, and oxygen, he could reactivate the corpse’s systems.
The first three attempts were unsuccessful, but the last two dogs recovered and survived for months. Naturally, they resuscitated with significant brain damage, severe nervous disorders, deranged motor skills, and blindness.
Big media news
“Robert E. Cornish, a California biologist who stunned the scientific community by resurrecting a clinically dead dog, recently repeated the success of his original experiment with even more promising results,” the statement read. New York Times in 1935.
“When six minutes had passed since his last heartbeat, young Dr. Robert E. Cornish mounted Lazarus II on a swinging device called a seesaw. There he opened one of the veins in the terrier’s thigh to apply a saline solution saturated with oxygen and containing adrenaline and heart stimulants, heparin liver extract and some canine blood which had been fibrin (coagulant substance) which withdrew . ..”
“The stimulating solution was dipped into a glass measuring cup, as it seeped into the body through five feet of rubber tubing, it began to rise in slow pulsations, and Lazarus II gasped for a few moments. His legs trembled. His heart began pulsing, softly at first, then like a triphammer. Lazarus II was alive”, , the New York newspaper recounted in its report.
“A second dog is resurrected,” headlined the scientific journal at the time Modern mechanix. According to data shared in that publication, he was able to bring the animals back from the dead in about an hour and a half.
the damned
His experiment caused quite a stir, and the university canceled the project, as they did not tolerate his treatment of the dogs he was experimenting on. However, that didn’t stop Cornish, who continued his research at home, this time with pigs instead of dogs due to their resemblance to humans.
A decade later, Dr. Cornish wanted to do something else. The man intended to carry his methods of resurrection with a human being. In 1947 he had already obtained a volunteer: Thomas McMoniglea murderer of children held in San Quentin prison, who had offered his body to be reanimated after the execution of his death sentence.
He (McMonigle) believes that if this were possible, the successful method could be used to save the lives of countless innocent people who could die (in prison) permanently, from drowning, electric shock or suffocation,” Cornish said in quoted statements. half Daily News.
Robert hoped that the prison authorities would grant him permission to handle the criminal’s body once it was subjected to the gas chamber. But it wasn’t like that.
The refusal gave the possibility that Cornish would succeed and allow McMonigle not only to be resurrected, but to go free having already served his sentence. California state authorities denied the request.
Eventually, due to media pressure, Cornish stepped down from his project because some colleagues and organizations had criticized him. Gradually, the obsession with him led him to be under the eye of the hurricane of criticism from many colleagues.
Robert, Did it fail or did they not let it succeed? What is certain is that Cornish withdrew from the project and concentrated his prodigious brain on traditional science. On March 6, 1963, he died of natural causes.
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.