5 o8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



modify Dr. Haughton's rules by substituting, say, 1,260 foot-pounds 

 for 2,240. If the neck of the criminal be small and delicate, or the 

 rope very fine, then it would be well to calculate on a lower basis 

 say, 1,120 foot-pounds. Thus, a man weighing 140 pounds would 

 require a drop of nine feet (1,260 -J- 140 = 9), and one weighing 120 

 pounds should have ten feet and a half (1,260 ~ 120 = 10|). The rope 

 should not be too thick nor too elastic, otherwise the abrupt shock will 

 be broken, and the advantages of the long drop lost ; but, on the 

 other hand, it should not be too thin nor too inelastic, as then there 

 is not merely the risk of the rope breaking, but also of snapping the 

 head off the culprit. The rope should be of the finest and best 

 hemp, pliable, and capable of bearing a strain of at least a ton and a 

 half. About three fourths to seven eighths of an inch in diameter 

 will be found a convenient thickness, and every rope should be tested 

 before being used. I have been told by the master of a ship that, if 

 in the manufacture of the rope the hemp be run through oil, it makes 

 the rope much more pliable. It would certainly prevent it from be- 

 coming stiff when exposed during a wet morning. The iron hooks 

 and couplings to which the rope is attached should be inspected on 

 each occasion. 



There has been a great difference of opinion regarding the position 

 of the ring ; Professor Haughton recommends that it be placed under 

 the chin, while Dr. Barker, of Melbourne, would have it on the nape of 

 the neck. When the ring is placed in the latter position, the chin 

 naturally falls forward on the sternum, and the rope has no leverage 

 action whatever to assist in dislocation ; and, moreover, the noose 

 does not tighten well on the neck, but the ring lies against the occi- 

 put ; so this position is not only the worst for producing luxation, but 

 also for strangulation. When the ring is under the jaw or chin there 

 is a leverage of several inches, the head is thrown back or to one side, 

 and the noose firmly constricts the neck. In the stretching of the 

 rope the noose tightens several inches ; if, therefore, the ring be placed 

 under the angle of the lower jaw on either side, and directed forward, 

 it will be drawn under the chin in the act of tightening. The noose 

 should be placed as high in the neck as possible, and drawn just suf- 

 ficiently tight to prevent it slipping out of position while the body is 

 falling. 



If those in authority would lay down a few simple rules as to the 

 manner in which executions should be performed, then it would not 

 require much science to carry them out. These rules might perhaps 

 also have the effect of relegating the executioner more into obscurity, 

 and dispel all illusionary ideas as to his being the possessor of a mystic 

 craft, or one to be feted by the populace and interviewed by the press 

 in order to satisfy a morbid public taste. Lancet. 



