The Press., 1902-09-11

over heap of something on the table.
! and I started back with strange
mixture of awe and horror. for stretch
i ed out on that marble slab lay Il naked
body, which. If it had never been a
| man, living and breathing as | lived
and breathed. then would have sworn
I dreamed.
The thoughts which began to come
into my mind probably showed in my
| face, for the professor said: You
doubt? You think that have lost my
reason and this thing is some man that
have killed. Well. l do not blame
you. A year ago l myself would have
scoffed at the very idea of creating
such a man. But you shall see. you
shall be convinced for in the next part
Of the experiment must have your
help. | will show you how l have
made this man or l will make another
before your eyes. Then you and l, we
will go further; we will do what no
| one but God has ever done before-we
will make that inert mass a living man."
The horror of the thing began to
leave me. for was fascinated by what
he said, and l began to feel the same
He took me into his private labora-
tory, and before my eyes. with only
the contents Of few reagent bottles.
a blowpipe and an electric battery. he
made a mass Of human flesh. | will
not give you the formula, neither will
tell you in detail how it was done.
God forbid that any other man should
see what l saw afterward.
"Now all that remains is the final
experiment, and that with your help
propose doing tonight" said the pro
fessor. What we have to do is as
much of riddle to me as it is to you.
1t is purely and simply an experiment.
I am going to pass through that life
less clay the same current Of electric
ity which if sent through a living man
would produce death. OF course with
man who had died from the giving
out of some vital function l could no.
hope to succeed, but the organs Of this
man which | have made are in a per
fectly healthy condition. 1t is my
hope. therefore. that the current which
would destroy living man will bring
this thing to life"
corpse and yet so terribly like, into the
electric laboratory and laid it on
slab of slate. Just at the base of its
brain we scraped little bare spot not
larger than Il pea, and. as live. drop
Of blood oozed out. On the right wrist
just over the pulse we made another
abrasion, and to these spots we brought
the positive and negative wires from
off the mains of the street current out
side.
held the two bare. uninsula.ed bits
of copper close to the flesh, Professor
Holbrok switched into circuit 20cO
volts of electricity, and then before
our startling eyes that thing which
was only mass of chemical COM
pounds became man.
A convulsive twitching brought the
body almost into sitting position;
then the mouth opened. and there burst
forth from the lips groan.
have been in the midst of battles.
and l have seen men dying all around
me, torn to ribbons by shot and shell,
and l have not f1inched; but when |
tore the wires from that writing.
grooming shape and saw it's chest be-
gin to heave with spasmodic breathing
| tainted.
When l came to myself, l was lying
half across the slab of slate, and the
room was filed with sickening
stencil, an odor Of burning flesh
looked for the writhing form which
had last seen on the table. but those
wires, with their deadly current, which
| tried to tear away as tainted. must
have been directed back by a higher
hand. for there only remained on the
slab charred and cinderlike mass.
And the man who had made a man
could not explain. for he was crawling
about OIL the floor counting the nails
in the boards and laughing wildly.