Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-10-22
HANGING AS A REMEDY.
METHODS DESCRIBED BY ONE WHO
IS HANGED TWICE A WEEK.

SSfetcnlnx inc Spinc 10 OuNo NeESouS DIS.
eases and Ata1ia-The Discovery OF tho
Benefits of Hansins-One Man Tried TO
| Do 1t Alone and Lost His Lie.
| $50 you have never heard of the hanging
| curer' said well known member of the diplo-
matte corps to us the other day. "You never
heard of its Really thought every one
knew about the hanging cure What do
| you meang' we asked in all innocence Slang
| ing is a cure, certainly, but one somewhat
too effective to be recommended to the ordi-
nary patient" ''Nonsensei" was the reply.
II mean the hanging cure as a remedy for
nervous diseases especially, and ata1ia
| "No, l have never heard Of it; tell me-
! what you mean" And thereupon our Wis
itor set forth his explanation Of the new
| method of treatment, which is becoming ex-
ceedingly popular.
THE APPARATUS USED.
cit is Russian invention, but it is coming
into vogue chiefly through DR.. Charcot, Of
the Salpetriere Its secret is this, that in
certain maladies of the nervous system, es-
pecially those which bring about either semi
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 than done; how can
| You stretch mans spinal cordF'
by hanging him." was the answer. 'by
hanging him in 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. I am hanged
regularly twice week, and the result in my
case has been quite extraordinary. do not
suffer from ataxia, but l have very invet-
crate nervous complaint, which has incapaci-
tated me for active work for some time past.
am now almost completely weil-at least,
after course Of treatment at some baths in
France hope to be completely restored to
my former health. For years have suffered
many things from many physicians, and all
that they could do for me was to slightly al
leviate the active irritation that was caused
by overexciting the nervous system"
'But l thought hanging was not a remedy
for that, but for ataxiaE"
"Quite true; and when I went to the Sal
petriere they were in very grave doubt as to
whether they would subject me to the treat
ment, as my malady was at once declared TO
be overexcitement of the nerves. Neverthe-
less, they strung me up, and experienced
very great relief"
pray tell me how they string you up"
''This way" said the gentleman inter-
viewed, producing diagram of the hanging
apparatus by which the patients are sus-
pended in mid-air for the purpose of stretch
ing their spinal cords. One part of this rests
under the chin, the other under the back of
the head. The patient is then hoisted OF his
feet and allowed to hang"
''How long do you hangF'
"At first not more than one minute After
ward it is possible by practice to extend the
period of suspension to as much as three or
four minutes l have never been able to hang
more than two minutes at a time. -Four
minutes IS the outside-no one has been known
to hang longer than that, and do not advise
any one to try the experiment. One wretch
who made an involuntary trial hanged HIM
self in grim earnest. lie was alone and found
he could not lower himself at the right time
He remained hanging until the spinal cord
snapped and he was found dead"
us it then SO dangerous3"
every dangerous if you suspend yourself
without another person in the room. Not at
ali dangerous if you are accompanied by a
judicious and Trustworthy friend. 1 am
always hanged in the presence of my doctor,
who takes care to lower me as soon as the sus-
pension has lasted two minutes"
DISCOVERED BY ACCIDENT.
"What is the sensation!"
'The sensation is not5difficult to imagine
IF any one takes you by the chin and back of
the neck and tries to pull your head off, you
can form some conception of what your feel
lngs are when the weight of your body is
hanging upon the spinal column. At the end
of a minute you experience a sensation Of in
tense 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 resting You are utterly exhausted,
but that soon passes off and you experience
an almost immediate relief When I went to
the Salpetriere 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 oper
ating room He was duly banged, and be-
fore l left Paris he was able to walk the
whole way from his hotel to Dr. Charcots.
1t was remarkable cure, and there are many
like it.
How was the treatment found outf'
at was partly by accident. An American
doctor was in the habit Of suspendng his pa
tients for the purpose of making a plaster
cast in cases Of curvature Of the spine. From
this they received great benefit, and his
method was adopted in Russia by doctor of
the name of Motchowkotfski. One day he
found that patient of his whom he had sus-
pended for the purpose Of putting on this
plaster cast had broken the cast, 50 that the
benefit which manifestly resulted from his
treatment could not he attributed to the
cast. From this he inferred that the i'm
proveInent was really due 70 the SUSPENSION !
A few experiments soon satisfied him that
this was the case, and be took TO hanging his /
patients as a regular method Of treatment. |
DR.. Charcot hearing of the results that had !
followed from a Dr.. Raymond, who had been /
on medical mission 10 Russia, conducted a
series Of experiments N the Salpetriere and |
found that the treatment worked marvels. 1t /
is now adopted as regular method Of treat- |
ment at the Salpetiere, and nervous patients |
have experienced therefron the greatest pos
nble advantage In no case has any injury /
TO the patients followed its adoption When |
l left the Salpetriere took over with me the /
complete set Of srspensory apparatus, and |
am now being hanged twice week regularly
in my own rooms There is no reason Why
You should not have an apparatus erected In
the Office Of The Pail Mall, in which you can
stretch the spinal cords Of all nervously u
ritable persons Pail Mall Gaaes1e.