...of an animated corpse

On the first occasion that the cat swallowed an entire pill, Canterel plunged him into the radiant aquarium. Then, after allowing a few minutes for the erythrite to take effect, he gave a special signal of command. The perfectly trained Khong-dek-len at once went to the bottom to mask himself with the horn, then swam to Danton's brain and brushed it with the tip of his metallic accessory. Joyfully, the professor saw his hopes completely realised. Under the influence of the powerful animal magnetism which the cone released, the facial muscles trembled and the fleshless lips began to move distinctly, vigorously pronouncing strings of noiseless words. By lip-reading, Canterel managed to make out various syllables just from the way they were articulated; then he discovered chaotic snatches of speech following one another disconnectedly or, sometimes, repeated ad nauseam with strange insistence.

[Locus Solus, Roussel, R.]