The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-07-10
HANGING AS A CURE.
Methods Described by Che Who Is
Hanged Twice Week.
From The Pail Mall Gazette.

L bFONl ue EIt lllltt UQ2cltes
"So you have never heard Of the hanging
cureF said well-known member of the
| diplomatic corps TO Us the other day. You
never heard of it! Really thought
every one knew about the hanging cure"
"What do you meanp we asked in all in
| nocence. Hanging is a cure, certainly,
1 but one somewhat too effective to be recon-
mended to the ordinary patient"
! 'Nonsensel" was the reply. Il mean the
| hanging cure as a remedy for nervous dis
eases especially, and ataxia.n
| mo, | have never heard of it; tell me
what you mean"
And thereupon our visitor set forth his
! explanation of the new method of treat
| ment, which Is becoming exceedingly pOpu-
| lar:
! at is Russian invention, but it is COM
ing into vogue chiefly through DR.. CharcOt
| OF the Salpetriere. Its secret is this, that
IN certain malades of the nervous system,
| especially those which bring about either
| seml-paralysis or incapacity to move the
limbs, the mischief is due to the fact that
your spinal cord gets 'crinkled up and In
order to remedy the evil you must stretch
| your spinal cord"
THAT is easier said that done; how can
you stretch mans spinal cordg'
by hanging him." was the answer, "by
hanging him III such way as to cause the
whole weight of the body to fall upon the
spine as a means of strengthening the
spinal marrow. 1t is very simple. | am
hanged regularly twice week, and the re-
suit In my case has been quite extraordi
nary. do not suffer from ataXIa, but |
nave very lnveterate nervous complaint,
which has incapacitat ed me for active work
Tor some time past | am now almost
completely well-at least, after course OF
| treatment at some baths in France l hope
TO be completely restored to my former
health. For years l have suffered many
things from many physicians, and all that
they could do for me was to slightly allevi-
ate the active irritation that was caused by
oVerexcltlug the nervous system"
But l thought hanging was not rem
edv for that, but for ataxia2n
Quite true and when | went to the Sal
petrlere they werc in very grave doubt as
to whether they would subject me to the
treatment, as my malady was at once de-
clared to be overeXcItement of the nerves.
Nevertheless, they sturng me up, and expe
rlenced very great relief.n
Pray tell me how they string you up"
- his way said the gentleman inter
viewed, pro lucing a diagram of the hang
ing apparatus by which the patients are
suspended in nlidair for the purpose of
stretching their spinal cords. One part of
TINS rests under the chin, the other under the
back of the head The patient is then
holsted off his feet and allowed to hang"
How long do you hangp
AT first not more than one minute
Atterward it is possible by practice to ex-
Tend the period of suspension to as much as
three or four minutes. | have never been
able to hang more than two minutes at a
time. -Four minutes is the outside-no one
mas been known to hang longer than that,
and do not advise any one to try the ex-
pertinent. One wretch who made an in
voluntary trial hanged himself in grim
earest. lie was alone and found he could
not lower himself at the right time. He
remained hanging until the spinal cord
snapped aud he was found dead"
rs it then SO dangerously
Very dangerous if you suspend your
self without another person in the room.
Not at all dangerous if you are accom-
panied by a judicious and trustworthy
friend. | am always hanged in the
presence of my doctor, who takes care to
lower me as soon as the suspension has
lasted two minutes"
What is the sensations"
The sensation is not difficult to imagine.
III any one takes you by the chin and back
or the neck and tries to pull your head off,
you can form some conception of what
your feelings are when the weight of your
body is hanging upon the spinal column.
At the eud of minute you experience
sensation of intense WEAKNESS, and when
you are cut down, or lowered rather. to
your feet, you feel as if you had walked to
the top of the Eiffel Tower without rest
ing. gu are utterly exhau ted, but that
soon passes Off and you experience an al
most immediate relief When | went to
the Salpetriere l went with Young Ameri-
can who had been for three years helplessly
paralyzed. He was driven to the door and
carried in chair up the steps into the
operating room. He was duly hanged, and
before | left Paris he was able to walk the
whole way from his hotel to DIR. Charcot's.
1t was a remarkable cure, and there are
many like it.n
How was the treatment found out?'
1t was partly by accident. An Ameri-
can doctor was in the habi. of suspending
his patients for the purpose of making a
plaster cast in cases of curvature of the
spine. From this they recei we'd great bene-
lit, and MS method was adopted in Russia
by doctor of the name of Motchowkoffs-
XII. One day he found that patient of his
whom he had suspended for the purpose of
had broken the 'n cast s pla't that c t5s
benefit which manifestIy resulted from his
treatment could not be attributed to the
cast. From this he inferred that the i'm
proVement was really due to the suspen-
sion. few experiments soon satisfied MIN
tnat this was the case, and he took to hang
ing his patients as a regular method of
treatment. DR.. Charcot, hearing of the
results that had followed from a DR.. Raw
mond, who had been on a medical mission
to Russia, conducted series of expert
ments i'll the Salpetriere and found that the
treatment worked marvels. 1t is now
adopted as regular method of treatment
at the Salpetriere, and nervous patients
have experienced therefrom the greatest
possible advantage. In no case has any
injury to the patients followed its adop-
ton. When left the Salpe .riere | took
over with me the complete set Of suspen-
sorry apparatus, and am now being hanged
twice week regularly in my own rooms.
Three Rebellions a Day.
Thrae rahellinns nhstinatn thn,,c.h hlon1i1os.