The silver lance., 1899-03-31
BEHEADED MAY LIVE.
COMBATS THEORY OF INSTAN-
TANEOUS DEATH.
Proof That 1t Takes Hours for Severed
Head to Lose Consciousness Does
the Brain Die at Ouce?-Dr. CanIll
on the Subject.

From the New York telegram: In
his paper instant Death by Decapita-
tion an Impossibility. According TO
Biological Analysis" read at the an
nual meeting held in the Waldorf-As-
toria, DR.. ]. Mount Bleyer, as the
father of eloctrocution in this coun-
try" used for his subject the problem
of DR.. Canill of Paris, Does the Stroke
of the Guillotine Cause Instant
Death?'
"This revelation" said DR.. Bleyer,
has caused me to carry out few ex-
periments from which / formulated
most plausible theory. In my opinion,
from all the. facts gathered, l and my
assistant, DR.. Henry F. Waite, con-
cluded that what is to follow in this
paper will be received as a most ra-
tional explanation to the thinker why
such an instantaneous death is an i'm
possibility Continuing, Dr. Bleyer
said in part: "Dr. Canill, who evident
ly must be keen observer, has
brought to our notice that absolute
death does not follow guillotining for
several hours on account of the fact
that the brain finds nourishment for
an hour after decapitation. Also, dur
ing this time, the head of the victim
retains the sense of feeling. hearing,
smell and sight DR.. Canill lays much
stress upon a point in connection with
the blood supply to the brain long af-
ter the head has fallen into the basket.
Conscience is most complex phenom-
ena, and consciousness is a broad and
sweeping term in applying it in gen.
eral in this connection after decapita-
ton.
I'VE cannot investigate the phenom-
ena of consciousness like we do the
phenomena of light and electricity The
detection of consciousness for any
length of time after decapitation with
its many varying complex phases NOV
ing onward is hardly possible. SO we
can only theorize until we find more
positive proof that life is totally ex-
tinct after decapitation. Gross physi-
ology and psychology alone is not
enough to decide for us such an intri-
cate and delicate question, and we
must therefore seek aid among the col
lateral sciences.
''1s it possible that such a mass of
living matter as the brain dies imme-
diately after decapitation? Protoplasm
is known to live for some time outside
OF the body when severed from its con-
nections upon which it lives. The blood
OF the body acts as food and air sup
ply to protoplasm, and when this is cut
off does not Immediately kill the brain
cell. 1t has not by any means been
proved by physiology alone that in
this condition the brain is dead to i'm
pulse. No one has proved as yet the
difference between a dead and a living
brain cell. How is it thus possible for
me to know exactly what live brain
cell looks like from that in contradis-
tinction to dead one? If we could
differentiate between them we could
more easily ascertain how long be-
fore the death of these cells takes
place. This would then solve the ex-
act life of brain cell after corporal
death. 1 cannot believe that every
brain cell dies simultaneously The
brain cell is killed by preparing it
ready so as to be made demonstrable
to the eye Of the microscope. Why,
then, could it not be possible that
the brain cell does also retain its
life, as it is of the same constitution
and same powers as any other cells in
the economy. Already we know that
a muscle responds to all kinds Of stim-
uli by contracting, a gland cell by Sc
cretfng; an optic nerve can only expe-
rience the sensation Of light, whether
stimulated by light, worry; electricity
or pressure. Irritability is funda-