, 1889-06-05
LIFE IN HE SEVERED HEAD.
The Survival of Consciousness After De
caultatiou Proven

The Survival of Consciousness Afier De
eapitation Proven
A volume has just been published
at Paris in which DIR. Paul Loye, un-
der the title Of la Mort par la De-
capitation," studies the question as TO
whether, after decapitation, conscious
ness survives for a short time In the
severed head and physical suffering is
felt in both parts OF the executed body.
Every time a head falls under the
sword or under the executioner's ak,
says DIR. Loye, the imagination Of the
spectators has, In the physiognomy Of
the victim, looked for proofs OF the
survival of will and Consciousness.
The eyes turned, which was a sign Of
pain; the lips moved, which showed
that they wanted TO speak; the mouth
opened, in order TO bite, in a kind Of
fury. There is not a movement Of the
face which has not been interpreted as
a mark Of the continuation of feeling.
And ever since the guillotine moved
down the heads of multitudes during
the reign of terror, scientists have
stood around the scaffold, bidding all
their humane faculties vanish, and
concentrating their whole intellect on
the one question, docs consciousness
rtIlluln uIUer the VlCIlm neau Is sew
cred from the body7"
In connection with this belief DR..
Loye quotes a terrible story told by NJ.
Petitgand about an Anamite who was
beheaded by the sword in 1875 at Sal
gon:
THE place of execution was the
Plain of Tombs, a vast sandy tract,
serving as cemetery TO the Anamites
and the Chinese. Four Anamitep pirates,
taken with their arms In their hands,
were to be beheaded. The chief of the
band, a man in the prime of life, ener-
getic, muscular, brave without boast
ing, and firm to the very last, had at
tracted my special attention, and l de-
cided to make my observations on him
only. Without losing sight of him
for a single moment l exchanged q few
words in a loud voice with the officer
in charge, and noticed that the patient
was also looking at me with the liveli-
est attention. The preparations having
been completed, took my stand at the
distance Of about two yards from him.
He knelt down, but before bending
his head no exchanged a rapid look
with me.
"His head fell down at tho distance
of about a yard and a quarter from
where 1 stood. 1t did not roll in the
usual way, but stood with the surface
of the wound resting on tho sand, a
position by which the hemorrage was
accidentally reduced to a minimum.
AT this moment l was terror stricken
at seeing the eyes of the doomed mar
fixed frankly on my eyes. Not dar-
ing TO believe in q conscious manifes-
tation, | went quickly to one side Of
the head lying at my feet, and l found
that the eyes followed me. Then 1 re-
turned to my first position; still the
eyes went with me for a short distance
and then quilted me quite suddenly.
The face expressed at that moment a
conscious agony, the agony of q per-
son In a state OF acute asphyxia. The
mouth opened violently as if to take
in a breath of air, and the head thrown
off its equilibrium by tho motion
rolled over. This contraction of the
maxillary muscles was the last sign of
life. Since the moment of decapita-
ton from fifteen to twenty seconds
had passed. New York Press.