The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-12-26
SCIENTIFIC
How Culprits May be Executed Hnmanefy
and Decently-The Question of Pain.

and D~ecently-The Question of Pain.
The siekening spectacle caused by the bum
Cling that attended the execution Of the negro
Jefferson, in Brooklyn, recently, and ths fre-
quency of similar accidents" OF late, make q
recent article in the Lancet by On. Barr, medi-
cal officer of the royal prisons, important and
interesting. He regards Judicial hanging in
its physiological aspects, and also from q hu-
name point of view, believing that too much is
aew left TO the discretion Of tho hangman-
C~alcraft, it appears, invariably used the shor.
drop (of about two feet and a half, and judg-
ing from his ropes, still M existence, death
must have been produced by slow asphyxia.
Marwood adopted the long drop. The Ameri-
can method is called ssa scientific modification
Of running the culprit mp 10 the yard-arm
In hanging, death may result from asphyxia,
excess of blood in the brain, asphyxia with
apoplexy, syncope (swoon), and injury to the
spinal cord and the nerves OF the lungs ard
stomach. While death from asphyxia, as or
dinarily brought about 0y the short drop,
should not be tolerated, it might be &C.
complished without much suffering. The con-
s~triction should be complete. The compress
sion of veins, arteries, and if possible, OF
nerves, is of even more importance in the pro-
duction Of rapid unconsciousness than the clos
ing of the windpipe. The most suitable posi-
ton of moose is between the lower jaw and
what is called the hyoid bone, the latter being q
very movable osseous arch at the base OF
the tongue; which, says the medical lexicog-
rapher, separated entirely from the resi-
of the, skeleton, is composed of five dis
tinet portions susceptible of motion up
on each other" The rope should be THIN
and pliable, and not very elastic; .
silk rope would be the best. The ring should
DO placed under the lower jaw, and the drop
should be long enough tofully compress the
windpipe blood vessels and nerves. A half
inch silk rope with a drop of from four 70 six
feet, according TO the weight Of the prisoner,
would probably be sufficient Deaths from
excess of blood in the brain Cerebral hyper
mia) and it's combination with asphyxia are
notifications OF the foregoing form Of death,
and result from incomplete construction, the
windpipe not being quite closed. The return
of the blood contained in the veins is obstruct-
ed, but not the arterial supply. Hence suffo-
cation is rather slow means of fully destroy
ing life. Death from syncope or swoon may
be associated with hanging, but is most fire.
quently connected with the long drop. II is
about the most rapid and least painful meth
od' though perhaps the rarest In 2 case
action to cease in two minutes from
the time the bolt was drawn. Fear largely
contributes to the rapidity Of the result in these
cases. Death may be caused by dislocation or
fracture OF the upper bones OF the spine. With
consequent laceration of the spinal cord 1t is
frequently thought that the injury arises from
the rupture of q ligament OF the atlas, the first
bone upon which the head rests. Such cases
must be extremely rare, and the facts lead to
different conclusion. The Doctor. who seems
decided In his opinion that dislocation by means
of the long drop is the most scientific method
of hanging, gives a number of instances Of the
results of this method.
SIN every case the vertebr@ were separated
at the point of injury for at least an inch, the
spinal cord was severed, and the vertebral ar
teries and all the ligaments were torn across.n
The shock to the nervous system produces an
immediate loss of consciousness, with complete
paralysis of all voluntary muscles.
The whole time during which the shock could
be felt is one-twentieth of a second Even
from this the time must be deducted which is
taken NJ by the impression in travelling to the
nervous centers and back. Although loss of
consciousness Is instantaneous, death, as shown
by a cessation OF the hearts action, does not
take place so rapidly. The destructive effect
upon the neck OF the criminal Is in proportion
to the weight of the culprit and the rope. Tho
force OF the fall is equivalent TO half the mass
multiplied by the square Of the terminal yeloc-
ity. Aman weighing 40 pounds would require
a drop of nine feet and one weighing 1~20pounds
should have ten and q half feet The
rope should not be too thick nor too elias
tic, otherwise the abrupt shock will be
broken and and the advantages of the
long drop lost; but it should not be too
thin or too inelastic, or it may break, or the head
Of the criminal be snapped OF. The knot
should be placed under the angle of tlfo lower
jaw on either side and directed forward; ii will
then be drawn under the chin in the act OF
tightening. The moose should be placed as
high in the neck as possible and drawn tightly
enough to hold it in position while the body Is
falling.
Concerning the question ofpain itseems that
authorities disagree. DR.. Taylor is quoted as
take place very rapidly and without causing
any suffering 10 the person" Professor Tidy
also speaks of the painless nature of the death.
Professor Haughton, however, says that "the
old system of taking a ~convicks life by soffoca-
longed, and revolving to those present DIR.
Barr says: mo doubt the pain ia hanging can
under no circumstance be very acute.