Mary
Shelley conjured up images of a reanimated corpse in her novel
Frankenstein, published in 1818. While the novel was light on the
technical aspects, it explored the ethics of a "successful" reanimation
experiment. She was not the first to consider the possibility.
Scientists and pseudoscientists were experimenting with electricity and
its effect on flesh for decades already. After it became known that
electricity could make the muscles of dead animals, the effect was even
used for entertainment.
People outside of science were
also fascinated by electricity. They would attend shows where bull
heads and pigs were electrified, and watch public dissections at
research institutions such as the Company of Surgeons in England, which
later became the Royal College of Surgeons.
When scientists tired
of testing animals, they turned to corpses, particularly corpses of
murderers. In 1751, England passed the Murder Act, which allowed the
bodies of executed murderers to be used for experimentation. “The
reasons the Murder Act came about were twofold: there weren’t enough
bodies for anatomists, and it was seen as a further punishment for the
murderer,” says Burba. “It was considered additional punishment to have
your body dissected.”
Atlas Obscura tells the tale of a particularly gruesome 1818 experiment in which Scottish chemist Andrew Ure
attempted to bring an executed convict's body back to life. Maybe he should have read Shelley's novel first.
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