Dr. Robert E. Cornish

Dr. Robert E. Cornish, Berkeley, California, scientist who has brought dogs back to life after asphyxiation, is prepared to try this amazing experiment with humans, pending consent of one of three governors of states where the legal method of execution is suffocation by gas. Above is shown the first step in the weird process—the subject is strapped to a teeter board on which administration of a stimulant to the heart. Dr. Cornish is tying the patient to the board, while his assistance John Finn, Jr. (center), and Surgeon V.M. Margutti, (right) hold the subject’s arms preparatory to trying artificial respiration. (Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)