Lateral Science

September 25, 2003 6:41 AM

Galvanic Experiments on the Dead Body of a Criminal : The macabre electrical reanimation of Matthew Clydesdale`s hung body. Excerpts from The Young Man's Book of Amusement (1854). Just one of the fascinating "weird science" entries at Lateral Science.
posted by crunchland (9 comments total)

Groovy. I did similar experiments with my dead pet rats back when I was a tot. Now I want my own corpse to experiment on. [rubs hands together and chuckles evilly]
posted by MrBaliHai at 9:33 AM on September 25, 2003

This is good.
posted by Lafe at 10:39 AM on September 25, 2003

nice find crunchland.

Spectacular tribo-electrical effect using a platinum spatula & calcium oxalate

sounds like a martha stewart gone mad book.
posted by clavdivs at 11:07 AM on September 25, 2003

[this is excellent]
posted by Slithy_Tove at 11:22 AM on September 25, 2003

Great post. So creepy! This information was probably very useful in learning about how the nervous system works.
posted by biscotti at 11:36 AM on September 25, 2003

Hey! You said his hung body - I didn't see any naughty bits in that engraving.
posted by troutfishing at 12:50 PM on September 25, 2003

You can bring it up with the author.
posted by crunchland at 12:57 PM on September 25, 2003

Man, the world of 19th century science--fascinating. Thanks crunchland.

And paging Mary Shelley...
posted by jokeefe at 4:39 PM on September 25, 2003

The Ernest Glitch chronicles are particularly worth reading. This Victorian experimenter's achievements (made with the help of his long-suffering assistant Hodges) included cyborging racehorses, inventing the LED, and discovering fullerenes...
posted by raygirvan at 3:34 AM on September 26, 2003