 Reports circulated around Bury St Edmunds that a "galvanic battery" had been brought from Cambridge, and it is likely that the group experimented with galvanism on the body; a battery was attached to Corder's limbs to demonstrate the contraction of the muscles.The sternum was opened and the internal organs examined.There was some discussion as to whether the cause of death was suffocation; it was reported that Corder's chest was seen to rise and fall for several minutes after he had dropped, and it was thought probable that pressure on the spinal cord had killed him.