Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1884-09-04
SCIENTIFIC HANGING.


DcceHtly.
The sickcning spectacle caused by the
bungling that attended the execution
of the negro Jefferson in Brooklyn re-
Gently, and the frequency of similar
accidents" of late, make q recent ar
ticlc in the Lancet by DR.. Barr, Mcdi-
cal Officer of the Royal Prisons, inn
portant and interesting. He regards
judicial hanging in ITS physiological
aspect and also from humane point
of view, believing that too much is
now leA to the discretion of the hang
man.
Calefaft, it appears, invariably used
the short drop (of about two feet and
n half, and Judging from his ropes,
still in existence, death must have
been produced by slow asphyNia.
Malwood adopted the long drop. The
American method is called ~ Scicn.
tilic modification of running the cul-
prit mp to the yard-arm.'
In hanging, death may result from
asphyXia, excess of blood in the brain,
asphyXia with apoplcXy, syncopc
(swOom and injury TO the spinal cord
and the nerves Of lungs and stomach.
While death from aSphyXia, as ordi-
narily brought about by the short drop,
should not be tolerated, ii might be
accomplished without much suffering
The construction should be complete
The compression OF veins. arteries
and IL npssihlp nf urrVps il nf pypu
more Importance in the production Of
rapid unconsciousncS' than the closing
of the windpipc. The most suitable
position of the moose is between the
lower jaw and what is called the hyoid
bone, the latter being Il very movable
osSeOnS arch III lIlc Dase OF lhe tongue
which, says lhc mculcaI lcNlcnErapher,
separated 'n'lrciy from 'he rest OF
ne skeleton Is composed oi llNc dl'-
tlnct portions susceptible oil motion
upon cacil otncr; me rope 'holId
be thln ana pllablc' ana not very rlAS'
tie; Il SlIk rope would be the best Inc
ring should Dc placed uh"rr thr lower
Jaw anu w. I'm, uIoP Snoul" I,.,''I W .onE
enough 10 lully compress 'he " hu-
PiPce'. o,ooI NcSScls ana h'T'CS: a
I'''t,',''' u '.IN up "''n " ui"P VI 'iU'"
loui !" SN lvc'' "o'o'ul"S w. NV
MtlShl VI Wv 'l'S"n,,i W,,ii WuuIu 'r"o-
"oIy NC S'''!Ic'enl' pca'ii IRON tNccSS
ol oIoo't III ihc oralh !crtrpr"i ny
PcIiuuia) anu lSs tol'lnll'as'on ,,l,t n WIN
"'Pny NJ" "lc ,i'Vu'nr"'lonS VI 'ii' iorc-
gong lUrin VI ucH'il' "hu result from
I'lcVll'PIc'c H'Ilc''|'' ,,, W. NInuP'lr
@mot @ pGInS quiz c!oScH' ! n' return "
'nc pIoou contained III lhc veins Is
ops'ruu.ru' II ou. ni nol Wv, tnu 'it'tI'l SuP-
Ply, Hence Hence Sultornl'oh tIi. N y I"ihrr IiE
low Inc"hS i Vi l"l'y u''Irol IhS ny
l'ealli from S{ncoPc VI S"1oil nia! VI
HSsotlalcu WIN any io'lh VI !"l,SlHT'
Du' Is most frequently cohhc'tc" WIN
the ,ohG IroP' IT Is apou' 'h' lloS'
raPiu ana IcaSI p"lnlul lnc'hoo'
tnoush perhaps .nc tarrSt' gI', III Il cas-
Oh SyhcoPr' ~ n'rr i"VIiu 'hc he;'rl ;
notioi. u Gc"SG III '"o inl"u'tN , rom
.ho tlIllc thc ool' was "rl"n' rear
iarScly contributes 10 the TaPi1l'y oi
-, :.
be caused ny diSIocation OF fracture OF
lhe upper 3ones bones o., 2l 'he SP,he' WIN
cohSelut"! '1ccra''o, t'l....l,',I vi & thc SPinai
cor"; IT ~ lic'ucn.lS t lh"uSn. ll'"s
tao injury ARISES from ,I tlic rupture co, Oh
oi " ''Sunlc". VI '"' "'''S' I"' ,H ",H'
Solr upon , MhIci 'nr , neau rests rest,
sue" cases must nc rN.rClleIl rare
anu % INC i"Tis T lc'u % J." " @ uIn'rent REM, con- ron
c!HS,pn, ino ; u,J'or' M.'o iii.; Scg.l's Nv,
clocu III ms opinion @ ,nlt ulSIoca'lon
ny means mean! ol .ho lpnE uIoP ~ 'I'r most
Sclch'lll' inr'hou i,'''.' vi ''a"SlnH, s.E'9
number oi instances ol INC results o'
TINS melho"'
"ln every ease the vertebrr were
separated at the point OF injury for
ut least an inch, the spinal cord was
severed and the ycrtcbral arteries and
all the ligaments were torn across.
The shock to the nervous system pro-
durns an immrdiolc loss of conscious.
ness. with complete PARALYSIS of all
the voluntary muscles.
The whole time during which the
shock could be felt is onc.twcnticth
of second Even from this the time
must he deducted which is taken up