Born Robert Edwin Cornish on December 21, 1903, in California (often associated with San Francisco or Berkeley), Cornish showed exceptional intelligence from a young age. He graduated from high school at 15, earned honors from the University of California, Berkeley at 18, and received his doctorate (Ph.D. or medical-related degree) by age 22. He was licensed to practice medicine around age 21.
Early in his career, Cornish worked as a researcher at Berkeley, exploring topics like reading glasses, heavy water isolation, and other scientific projects. However, by around 1932, he became obsessed with the idea of resuscitating the dead. He believed that clinical death was not necessarily irreversible if circulation and oxygenation could be restored quickly enough before irreversible brain damage occurred. His work was partly inspired by contemporary experiments in Russia and elsewhere on resuscitation, but his approach was highly unorthodox.
The See-Saw (Teeterboard) Method
The cornerstone of Cornish’s technique was a large teeterboard or see-saw-like tilting table (sometimes called a teeter-totter). The idea was to use gravity and rhythmic rocking to artificially circulate blood in a body whose heart had stopped. The subject (human cadaver or animal) was strapped supine (on their back) to the pivoting board.
The board was rocked vigorously back and forth, alternating the head-up/feet-down and head-down/feet-up positions. This created a pendulum-like effect to move blood toward the brain and vital organs. At the same time, he injected a mixture into a vein (often in the thigh), typically including: epinephrine (adrenaline) to stimulate the heart; anticoagulants like heparin (or liver extract) to prevent blood clotting; oxygenated saline solution mixed with some blood or other stimulants.
Additional steps often included artificial respiration (e.g., breathing into the mouth) and manual rubbing of the body.
Cornish theorized that if intervention happened within minutes of clinical death (before full rigor or extensive brain damage), revival might be possible.
In 1933, Cornish tried his method on human bodies (victims of heart attack, drowning, or electrocution). These failed, which he attributed to too much time having passed since death. He then shifted focus to animals for better control and fresher “clinical death.”
He used small dogs, primarily fox terriers, which he “clinically killed” using controlled asphyxiation (ether and nitrogen gas mixtures) to stop breathing and heartbeat. After a period of clinical death (often 5–10 minutes), he applied the see-saw method plus injections.He reportedly revived multiple dogs, naming them Lazarus I through XX (or at least several, with notable successes like Lazarus IV and V). Some sources mention reviving about 20 dogs in total, though success varied.
The revived dogs often showed severe deficits: blindness, inability to stand properly, brain damage, or only temporary recovery. For example, one dog improved more quickly than previous ones but remained impaired.These experiments gained significant media attention (sometimes sensationalized as “Frankenstein-like”). Public backlash over the treatment of dogs, combined with ethical concerns, reportedly led to him being ousted from university labs, forcing some work to his home.
Cornish appeared in or consulted on the 1935 film Life Returns, which dramatized resuscitation themes and featured him playing himself. In 1947–1948, he sought permission to test his method on a freshly executed human (death row inmate Thomas McMonigle, a child killer executed by gas chamber in California). The request was denied, and the experiment never happened.
By the late 1950s, Cornish had largely left mainstream research. He lived quietly in California and marketed his own formulation of toothpaste. He died on March 6, 1963, in Alameda, California, at age 59.
Cornish’s work is often remembered today as eccentric or “mad scientist” material due to the dramatic see-saw apparatus, the animal experiments, and the bold (some would say hubristic) goal of reversing death. It fits into the broader history of early 20th-century resuscitation research, which included pioneers working on defibrillators, artificial respiration, and open-chest cardiac massage.
While his specific method was crude by modern standards and the revived animals suffered neurological damage, it reflected genuine scientific interest in the boundary between life and death. Modern medicine has advanced far beyond this, using CPR, defibrillators, ECMO, therapeutic hypothermia, and organ-support systems, but Cornish’s emphasis on rapid circulation restoration echoes some principles still used in emergency care.
His story continues to fascinate because of its blend of brilliance, ambition, ethical questions, and the visually striking image of a body rocking on a giant see-saw in a desperate bid to cheat death.
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