THE MECHANICS OF HANGING. 505 



by suffocation is inhumanly painful, unnecessarily prolonged, and 

 revolting to those whose duty it is to be present." Those who speak 

 of the painless nature of death by strangulation arrive at this conclu- 

 sion from the fact that many cases of suicide are not completely sus- 

 pended, and that if they wished they could easily relieve the constric- 

 tion by assuming the erect posture, and in other cases of recovery 

 from attempted suicide by hanging there is no recollection of any 

 suffering. It should be remembered, however, that there is a great 

 difference between the mental attitude of the suicide and one who is 

 about to suffer the extreme penalty of the law. In the former case 

 he is regardless, and perhaps also not very sensitive, of a little suffer- 

 ing, while in the latter every nerve is braced up to resist the inevitable 

 result. Moreover, in those cases of recovery the loss of recollection of 

 suffering does not prove that there was none. It might almost as well 

 be said that, because in many cases of recovery from meningitis there 

 was no remembrance of any suffering, therefore there was none. No 

 doubt, the pain in hanging can under no circumstances be very acute, 

 yet when we see a culprit heaving his chest and almost raising the 

 whole body in his struggles for breath we must conclude that there is 

 at least a considerable amount of mental torture. 



While death from asphyxia as ordinarily brought about by the 

 short drop is a barbarism which should not be tolerated in this humani- 

 tarian age, yet it might be accomplished without much suffering. If 

 this mode of death be determined upon, then the constriction should 

 be complete, and the compression of the blood-vessels, both veins and 

 arteries, and if possible also the nerves, is of even more importance in 

 the production of rapid unconsciousness than the occlusion of the 

 windpipe. In accomplishing this object the position of the noose is of 

 importance ; it should never be placed over the larynx, as the rigidity 

 of that organ prevents complete compression and also shields the 

 blood-vessels. Below the larynx would perhaps be the best position, 

 but then there would always be the danger of the noose shifting up 

 to the least desirable spot, therefore the most suitable position would 

 seem to be between the hyoid bone and lower jaw. The rope should 

 be thin and pliable, and not very elastic (a silk rope would perhaps be 

 the best), the ring should be placed under the lower jaw, and the drop 

 should be long enough to compress windpipe, blood-vessels, and nerves. 

 If a half -inch silk rope were used I should think a drop of from four 

 to six feet, according to the weight of the prisoner, would be sufficient. 

 As to deaths from cerebral hyperemia, and its combination with as- 

 phyxia, they are merely modifications of the latter form of death, and 

 result from incomplete constriction, the windpipe not being quite oc- 

 cluded, while the venous return is obstructed, but not the arterial 

 supply. They are thus rather slow forms of death, and consequently 

 not desirable. Death from syncope may be associated with any mode 

 of hanging, but is perhaps most frequently connected with the long 



