In 1889, one Dr Horace Emmet lectured on the secret of eternal youth at Magdalene College, Cambridge – he claimed that, by administering himself the ground testicles of red squirrels by way of injections, he was physically some 30 years younger and could ‘visit’ his wife daily. However, just eight weeks after his announcement, his wife left him for a younger man and Emmet himself was dead shortly after, from a cerebral haemorrhage.

JJ