Its origins lie in a study by a Nobel laureate, Otto Meyerhof, who in the early years of the 20th century cut a frog in half and put its bottom half in a jar.

Its origins lie in a study by a Nobel laureate, Otto Meyerhof, who in the early years of the 20th century cut a frog in half and put its bottom half in a jar. R.D. Laing once said (paraphrased): "I would hope that if someone wanted to get to know me, they would not cut me in half and put me in a jar."