Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1878-12-07

Freshman says: II = person puts
. cord around his neck, between tie
hyoii bone and the chm. he can draw it
tight At the ba.k or side, without the
re>pir stiou being viSibly int-rf-red
sifh. and can for long time continue
TO inspire AMI expire naturally enough,
becaa>e IN this situation compression u
not made on any part 81 the air pas
ssgcs. No,wIth,.an ing til the face
grpvs red. tie eyes i'--'Iinc a little glsr-
ing. the heal b,comes iut. then comes
IN i--lius q weight. iI1ziress. a >ort
4 sii>,r.ss. ani ti..n. al. ia a. instant.
kissing i iuaun. Ia ih- ar This
last -ympt "a should IT, Especially no-
tIc,~i. for y J., time then t. stop thu tx
l. rIUseit
Drsersi- s;-tc> PLAINLY after cpE-il-
erins all til fac, that hanging Is
rlea-su; wsy e d,Ine H. words ar
In .uicIle az the n.puI-nt of the ap
piIcatIpn Of ia. cord. or iex moments
after. feeling Oi pleasure mAnifcsi~ II
>sli. then supervrn's iI~oEds rel yI>-
ion; blush flames aIp-sr before thu
eyes. and the los of cuasciDusr, -
son follows
All the evidence goes u saoN that
death by hanging l. painless. and there
l. positively no fact or well founded
opinion e. the contrary. II this be the
ease. then. what Is the explanation of
II Simply this: hat III every form
Of strangulati, the blooi-ves-els If
the neck are compressed, - we'll "a the
air passages. A large part If the blood
l. returned from the head bv the exter
nal llgular veins, which are very near
the surface. AMI IN which the curren.
can be checked by slight pressure.
Most Of the blood from the brain itself
comes back through the internal jugu-
lars. which lie near, blt little outside
f, the carotid arteries. The walls Of
veins are lax and yielding, 80 as to be
easily compressed, while those of the
arteries are firm and elastic, and it re-
quires considerable force to approx
mate them. Pressure, then, which is
sufficient to close the jugular veins only
crowds the carotids little further in
ward, and the blood is still poured
through them into the brain, whence it
cannot escape. When this pumping
process is going on at the rate OF seven
ty strokes minute, it is easy to under
stand how the engagement of the yes.
sells of the brain, in very brief time,
reaches degree which causes insensi-
bility.
Both drowning and hanging are pain
less modes of dying, because the ns-
pLyxia which causes death is compli.
Gated by other circumstances which
render the dying man so soon uncon.
scious that the pangs of suffocation
are unfelt. And the insensibilitv which
results from hanging is so insidious
and painless in its approach, that ex-
periments on the subject are very dan
gerous for any one to make alone. It is
probable that many persons, who are
supposed to have committed suicide in
this way, had really no intention of
bringing about their own death. Some
have been led to try the experiment out
of curiosity. Others may have done it
out of pique. 1t is not impossible, nor
perhaps improbable, that high spirited
boys or girls, after degrading punish.
ment, should rush of, as we read of their
doing, and hang themselves. The child
puts cord around his neck, and steps
off from a chair, expecting tn be fol-
lowed. found checking, and released by
the anxious parents. If he is not fol-
lowed and his absence not noticed,
nothing can be easier for him than to
step up on the chair again, loosen the
rope, and no one will ever know of his
folly. In the first case he would obtain
his childish revenge for the wrong he
had received, and in the second case he
would loose nothing, for he is his only
accomplish. Utterly ignorant of his
danger and intending only a prank of
childish folly, he steps from his chair
into eternity
-- b,