The Mineral argus., 1885-01-01
SCIENTIFIC HANGINS.
How culprits Nay he nxscntsd 1a-nanely
and Dscsnsly-Ths Question OF Pain.

lie Slrh'.lliip S!bSStiSlt tlu9tu ny Jun
CLING that attended the execution of the negro
jefferson, in Brooklyn, recently, and the fire.
qucncy of similar accidents" of late, make q
recent article in the Lancet by DIR. Barr, medi-
cal officer of the royal prisons, important and
interesting lie regards judicial hanging in
its physiological aspects, and also from a 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 (of about two feet and half, and judS-
ing from his ropes, still IN existence, death
must have been produced by slow asphyxia.
MarwooJ adopted the long drop. The Ameri-
can method Is called "a scientific notification
of running the culprit up to the yard-arm"
managing, death may result from asphyxia,
xcess of bool in the brain, asphyxia with
apOploxy, syncopc (swoon), aud injury to the
spinal cord and the nerves of the lungs and
stomach. While death from a-plC'xia, as or
tinarily brought about Oy til, short dfop,
should not be tolerated. it might he ac-
comp!shci without much suffering. The con.
strictiol should be complete. Tie compress.
sion OF veins, arteries, and il possible, OF
nerves, is of oven more importance in the pro-
lnciirn 81 rapid ur"orH o"anrss than the rlos
ing of the windppe. The most suitable posi-
tion Of moose il between the lower jaw AMI
what il called the hyoid bone, the latter being
very movable Osssous arch at the base OF
the tongue; which, says the medical lex.cog-
rapher, separated entirely from the rest
of the skeleton, il composed of five dis.
on each other" The rope should be thin
and pliab!c, and not very elastic; q
sik rope would be the best. The ring should
bs 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 drop of from four TO six
feet, according ~ the weight OF the prisoner,
would probably he suffi ;ient Deaths from
excess of blood in the brain Cerebral hyper
nia) AMI it's combination with asphyxia are
notifications of the foregoing form of death,
aud 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 suiYo
cation il a rather slow means of fully destroy
ing life Death from syncopc or swoon may
be associated with hanging, but H. most fire.
qucntly connected with the long drop. !, is
about the most rapid and least painful meth
of syncope, DIR. Barr found the hearts
action to in two minutes from
the ;ima the bolt drawn. Fear largely
contributes To the rapidity of the result in these
eases. Death may be caused 10y dislocation or
fracture of the upper bones of the spine, with
consequent la'craiion of the spinal cord Ii il
frequently Thought that the injury arise. from
the rupture of u liginient 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 Do tor, who seems
decided in his opinion that dislocation by means
of the long drop is the most scientific method
OF hanging. gives number of instances OF the
results of this method
In every case the verebrR were separated
a. the point of injury for at least an inch the
spinal cord was severed. and the vertebral ar
ferics and all the ligaincnts were torn across"
The shock 10 the nervous system produces an
immediate loss of CONSCIOUSNESS, with complete
paralysis OF all voluntary muscles
The whole time during which the shock could
he felt is ona-twenticth of a second. Even
from this the time must be deducted which is
taken up by the impression in travelling - the
nervous centers and back Although loss of
consci BUSINESS Is instantaneous, Il -ath, as shown
by q essation of the hearts action, does not
take place so rapidly The destructive effect
upon the neck OF ths criminal Is in proportion
To the weight of the culprt and the rope. The
force of the fall Is equivalent Ia half the mass
multiplied by the square OF the terminal veloc-
ity Aman weighing 40 pounds would egure
a drop Of nine feet and one weighing l.U pounds
should have ten and . half feet Tho
rope should not DO too thick nor too elias
tic, otherwise the abrupt shock Will be
broken aud and the advantages of tn,
long drop lost: but il should not be too
thin too inclase, or II may bre ak, or the head
of the criminal be snapped OF. The knot
should b. placed under the angle Of the lower
jaw either side and directed forward; il will
then DE drawn under the chin in the act of
tightening. The moose should he placed as
high in the neck az possible and drawn tightly
enough to hold II IN position while the body IL
falling.
Concerning the question OF pain it seems 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 Haughrtn, however. says tina, ''the
old system of taking convic. life by sofoca-
ton is inhumanly painful, unnect ,-arily pro-
longed, and revolving To those present DR.
Barr says: NO doubt the pain iii hanging can
under NO circumstance b. very acute"