Having pleaded in vain， I announced and proved that Iwas his son. It was my last card， and I had played all myhopes upon it. But he was inexorable； he was not a fatherbut a scientific machine. I wonder yet have it ever came topass that he married my mother or begat me， for there wasnot the slightest grain of emotion in his make-up. Reasonwas all in all to him， nor could he understand such thingsas love or sympathy in others， except as petty weaknesseswhich should be overcome. So he informed me that in thebeginning he had given me life， and who had better rightto take it away than he？ Such， he said， was not his desire，however； he merely wished to borrow it occasionally，promising to return it punctually at the appointed time.
Of course， there was a liability of mishaps， but I could dono more than take the chances， since the affairs of menwere full of such.
The better to insure success， he wished me to be inthe best possible condition， so I was dieted and trainedlike a great athlete before a decisive contest. What couldI do？ If I had to undergo the peril， it were best to bein good shape. In my intervals of relaxation he allowedme to assist in the arranging of the apparatus and in thevarious subsidiary experiments. The interest I took in allsuch operations can be imagined. I mastered the workas thoroughly as he， and often had the pleasure of seeingsome of my suggestions or alterations put into effect.
After such events I would smile grimly， conscious ofofficiating at my own funeral.
He began by inaugurating a series of experiments intoxicology. When all was ready， I was killed by a stiff doseof strychnine and allowed to lie dead for some twentyhours. During that period my body was dead， absolutelydead. All respiration and circulation ceased； but thefrightful part of it was， that while the protoplasmiccoagulation proceeded， I retained consciousness and wasenabled to study it in all its ghastly details.
The apparatus to bring me back to life was an airtightchamber， fitted to receive my body. The mechanismwas simple—a few valves， a rotary shaft and crank，and an electric motor. When in operation， the interioratmosphere was alternately condenses and rarefied，thus communicating to my lungs an artificial respirationwithout the agency of the hosing previously used. Thoughmy body was inert， and， for all I knew， in the first stagesof decomposition， I was cognizant of everything thattranspired. I knew when they placed me in the chamber，and though all my senses were quiescent， I was aware ofhypodermic injections of a compound to react upon thecoagulatory process. Then the chamber was closed andthe machinery started. My anxiety was terrible； but thecirculation became gradually restored， the different organsbegan to carry on their respective functions， and in anhour’s time I was eating a hearty dinner.
It cannot be said that I participated in this series， norin the subsequent ones， with much verve； but after twoineffectual attempts of escape， I began to take quite aninterest. Besides， I was becoming accustomed. My fatherwas beside himself at his success， and as the months rolledby his speculations took wilder and yet wilder flights.
We ranged through the three great classes of poisons，the neurotics， the gaseous and the irritants， but carefullyavoided some of the mineral irritants and passed thewhole group of corrosives. During the poison regimeI became quite accustomed to dying， and had but onemishap to shake my growing confidence. Scarifying anumber of lesser blood vessels in my arm， he introduceda minute quantity of that most frightful of poisons，the arrow poison， or curare. I lost consciousness at thestart， quickly followed by the cessation of respirationand circulation， and so far had the solidification of theprotoplasm advanced， that he gave up all hope. But at thelast moment he applied a discovery he had been workingupon， receiving such encouragement as to redouble hisefforts.
In a glass vacuum， similar but not exactly like a Crookes’
tube， was placed a magnetic field. When penetrated bypolarised light， it gave no phenomena of phosphorescencenor the rectilinear projection of atoms， but emittednon-luminous rays， similar to the X ray. While the X raycould reveal opaque objects hidden in dense mediums，this was possessed of far subtler penetration. By this hephotographed my body， and found on the negative aninfinite number of blurred shadows， due to the chemicaland electric motions still going on. This was an infallibleproof that the rigor mortis in which I lay was not genuine；that is， those mysterious forces， those delicate bondswhich held my soul to my body， were still in action. Theresultants of all other poisons were unapparent， save thoseof mercurial compounds， which usually left me languid forseveral days.
Another series of delightful experiments was withelectricity. We verified Tesla’s assertion that high currentswere utterly harmless by passing 100，000 volts throughmy body. As this did not affect me， the current wasreduced to 2，500， and I was quickly electrocuted. Thistime he ventured so far as to allow me to remain dead， orin a state of suspended vitality， for three days. It took fourhours to bring me back.
