Robert Cornish and his experiments to revive the dead

In the 1930s, California biologist Robert Cornish conducted a series of experiments that were meant to change the boundaries of life and death science. His method involved reviving clinically dead dogs using a seesaw, adrenaline, and anticoagulants.

Prodigy Child from Berkeley

Robert Edwin Cornish was born in December 1903 and showed extraordinary intellectual abilities from his earliest years. He graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley, at the age of eighteen. He defended his doctorate just four years later. Such age and achievements made the scientific community look at him with a mixture of admiration and disbelief.

The young scientist engaged in various research projects, trying to combine science with practical application. One of his ideas was special lenses enabling reading newspapers underwater. Although this may sound bizarre today, such innovations attracted interest in those times. Cornish was the type of scientist looking for solutions to everyday problems, not just delving into abstract theories.

The year 1932 brought a turning point in his career. Cornish became fascinated with the possibility of restoring life to people after clinical death. It was then that the idea was born that would dominate his further research. In an era when medicine was just discovering the secrets of resuscitation, his vision seemed both bold and controversial.

Seesaw as Key to Life

The foundation of Cornish’s method was an unusual device resembling a seesaw or weighing board. It was designed to restore blood circulation in the body of a recently deceased patient through rhythmic movements. Simultaneously, a mixture of adrenaline and substances preventing blood clotting was administered into the circulatory system. It was a system simple in assumption, yet revolutionary in intention.

In 1933, the scientist made first attempts involving victims of heart attack, drowning, and electrocution. Unfortunately, all ended in failure. Human bodies reacted differently than he predicted. Cornish faced a dilemma: continue experiments on humans or change strategy. He chose the latter.

The decision to transfer research to animals opened a new chapter in his work. The choice fell on dogs, which were clinically put to death under controlled conditions. The first series of experiments took place probably in May 1934. A year later, Cornish continued his attempts, perfecting the technique. In total, twenty dogs marked as Lazarus I through XX passed through his laboratory.

Drama of Lazarus II

In a gloomy building on the Berkeley campus, a white terrier named Lazarus II rested on a table covered with clean cloth. The harsh glare of surgical lamps illuminated its dead body. The dog had been killed with a mixture of ether and nitrogen. Its heart stopped beating, and its eyes froze in a glassy stare.

Six minutes after the last heartbeat, Cornish moved the animal onto the seesaw. He opened the femoral vein, administering a saline solution saturated with oxygen and a mixture of adrenaline, heparin, and canine blood deprived of fibrin. The assistant massaged the body, rhythmically moving the seesaw. Cornish himself blew air into the dog’s mouth. The liquid solution slowly disappeared from the glass cylinder flowing into the corpse.

After a moment, the level indicator began to pulsate. Lazarus II gasped for air. Its paw trembled. The heart regained its rhythm, first weak, then violent like a jackhammer, finally normal. The dog was alive again. For over eight hours, the animal lay in a strange sleep resembling deep coma. It whimpered, panted, and barked as if haunted by nightmares.

In a desperate attempt to accelerate the return to health, Cornish administered glucose solution. This proved to be a fatal mistake. A blood clot led to another, this time final death of Lazarus II. Another terrier went through the same procedure, but it too survived only five hours. The scientist admitted that if the second dog had been dead two minutes instead of eight, it might have survived.

Condemned Man and Double Jeopardy Law

The successes achieved on dogs pushed Cornish to think about human tests. Soon a prisoner from death row at San Quentin contacted him. Thomas McMonigle had committed murder and was sentenced to execution. He offered his body as material for an experiment after the sentence was carried out. Cornish accepted the offer enthusiastically, seeing a chance for a breakthrough.

However, California law enforcement blocked this attempt. The main reason was the double jeopardy clause recorded in American law. If McMonigle were resurrected after execution, he could theoretically demand release. One cannot punish the same person twice for the same crime. The prospect of a murderer returning to freedom was unacceptable.

The petition of Cornish and McMonigle was rejected. The condemned man died in the San Quentin gas chamber on February 20, 1948. The scientist’s dreams of human testing definitively collapsed. Law proved stronger than scientific curiosity.

Pioneers and Predecessors

Cornish was not the first to try to defeat clinical death. Thirty years earlier, the famous Cleveland physician George Washington Crile experimented on dogs using salt solutions, adrenaline, and chest massage. He often managed to restore heartbeat after a few minutes of cessation. However, the effect was short-lived due to blood clotting.

Crile’s work provided the foundation on which Cornish built his methods. The difference consisted in adding anticoagulants and introducing the seesaw mechanism to improve circulation. This allowed extending the survival time of animals after resuscitation. Nevertheless, the problem of blood clots remained unsolved even in Cornish’s experiments.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

• https://amazingstories.com/2014/02/lostcuriosities1cornish/
• https://www.utterlyinteresting.com/post/robert-e-cornish-the-biologist-who-wanted-to-bring-dead-dogs-back-to-life
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urcAnbXTEw4