The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1884-10-16
SCIENTIFIC HANGING.
New Outputs Nay b 1xscuted 8umanely
ana 0ecsntly-1he Question Of Pa1u.

8ow 0ulprits Nay be Executed xumanely
ana Dsosntly-xhs Question Of Paan.
The sickening spectacle caused by ths bun
Cling that attended the execution of the negro
Jefferson, in Brooklyn, recently, and the fire.
quency of similar accidents" of late, make
recent article in the Lancet by DR.. Barr, medi-
cal officer Of the royal prisons, important and
interesting He regards judicial hanging in
it's physiological aspects, and also from hu.
name point Of view, believing that too much is
now left to the discretion of the hangman.
Calcraft, it appears, invariably used the short
drop tof about two feet and half, and iudg-
ing from his ropes, still in existence, death
must have been produced by slow asphyxia
Marwood adopted the long drop. The Ameri-
can method is called "a scientific modification
OF running the culprit up to 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 and
stomach. While death from asphyxia, as or
dinarily brought about oy the short drop,
should not be tolerated, it might be ac-
complished without much suffering. The con-
striction 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 lyoid bone, the latter being
very movable osseous arch at the base OF
the tongue; which, says the medical lexicog
rapher, separated entirely from the rest
Of the skeleton, is composed of five dis
tinct portions susceptible OF motion up
on each other" The rope should be thin
and pliable, and not very elastic; a
silk rope would be the best The ring should
be placed under the lower jaw, and the drop
ff.fI lvy any,,v,r tho
windp1pe blood-vessels and nerves A half
inch silk rope with drop of from four to 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. 1t is
about the most rapid and least painful meth
cd, though perhaps the rarest In case
of syncope, DR. Barr found the hearts
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 OF
fracture of the upper bones of the spine, with
frequently thought that the injury arises from
the rupture of a igament 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
''In every case the vertebrR were separated
at the point of injury for at least an inch, the
spinal cord was severed, and the yertebral ar
teries and all the hgaments were torn across"
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 up by the impression in travelling to the
nervous centers and back. Although loss of
consciousness is instantaneous, death, as shown
by 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 The
force of the fall is equivalent to half the mass
multiplied by the square of the terminal veloc-
ity. Aman weighing 40 pounds would require
q drop of nine feet and one weighing 120 pounds
should have ten and 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 too ineastie, or it may break, or the head
of the criminal be snapped Of The knot
should be placed under the angle of the lower
jaw on either side and directed forward; it 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 Of pain itseems that
authorities disagree. Dr. Taylor is quoted as
saying that ''death from hanging appears to
take place very rapidly and without causing
any suffering to the person" Professor Tidy
also speaks Of the painless nature of the death.
Professor Haughton, however, says that ''the
old system of taking convicts life by soffoca-
ton is inhumanly painful, unnecessarily pro-
longed, and revolving to those present" DR..
Barr says: "No doubt the pain in hanging can
under no circumstance be very acute.