Dr Duncan MacDougall (1866 – 1920) was an early 20th-century physician in Massachusetts who was determined to record the weight lost by a human when the soul departed ... The determination of the 'soul' weighing 21 grams was based on the loss of weight at the moment of death. He tried animal experiments with no weight loss at death, he was eventually kicked out of the terminal ill sections of the hospitals.

They continued the same experiment on another patient with the same results. Dr MacDougall really thought he was on to something extraordinary. A quote from the March 1907 New York Times even captured this historic event. All five doctors independently took their own measurements recorded them then compared their results. The patients in the experiment did not all lose the same amount of weight, but they did lose a measurable amount with no explination. Due to mechanical failure only four of the six could be counted as tangible evidence.

Everything was accounted for, from the air in the lungs to bodily fluids. Still no explanation for the sudden lost weight. Something interesting occurred with the third patient, upon death he maintained the same weight, one minute later he lost almost an ounce. Dr MacDougall explained this man was slow in thought and action, so it took him a minute to free his soul and leave the body.

After the experiment it was concluded the average loss was 21 grams. The public thought it unethical and it stopped.

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