352 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Now, this man stated, not with particular reference to either acci- 

 dent, but as common to all, that " he could hardly recollect anything 

 that happened to him in the rope ; " that " he lost his senses all at 

 once ; the instant the rope got in the wrong place he felt as if he could 

 not get his breath as if some great weight were at his feet ; could 

 not move only to draw himself up ; felt as if he wanted to loosen him- 

 self, but never thought of his hands." And he added : "You cannot 

 move your arms or legs to save yourself ; you cannot raise your arms ; 

 you cannot think." He did not see sparks or light, but had in his ears 

 a rattling sound. 



This account is an interesting one, because it shows the absence of 

 physical suffering, even when consciousness is for a short time retained. 

 The benumbing effect of the venous blood on the brain is well shown 

 by his remarks on the confusion of thought and mental helplessness. 



In the second instance, which has been fully recorded, the show-man 

 was not so fortunate. He hung himself once too often, and the circum- 

 stances of his last exhibition were very singular. He was known as 

 Scott, the American diver, and he, like Harnshaw, had many times hung 

 himself before an audience with safety. The last time, however, the 

 rope slipped in such a way as to compress the throat and bring on as- 

 phyxia. He hung thirteen minutes, the spectators thinking that he 

 was prolonging the experiment for their gratification. When he was 

 taken down he was dead. It is just to those who were looking on to 

 state that they thought he was safe, because he was still, and did not 

 raise his feet and stand upon the scaffold, which his legs actually touched. 

 This case shows with peculiar force the insidious manner in which death 

 comes on in asphyxia. 



While death in such cases has been supposed to occur in conse- 

 quence of the lack of air, there are good reasons for believing, as pre- 

 viously stated, that it may be largely if not mainly due to the conges- 

 tion of the vessels of the brain. Fleischmann tried some experiments 

 on himself with the object of throwing light on this question. He 

 says : " If a person puts a cord around the neck between the hyoid 

 bone and the chin, he can draw it tight at the back or side, without the 

 respiration being sensibly interfered with, and can for a long time con- 

 tinue to inspire and expire naturally enough, because in this situation 

 compression is not made on any part of the air-passages. Notwith- 

 standing this, the face grows red, the eyes become a little glaring, the 

 head becomes hot, there comes on a feeling of weight, dizziness, a sort 

 of distress, and then all in an instant a hissing and roaring in the ears. 

 This last symptom should be especially noticed, for it is time then to 

 stop the experiment. I confess that a second time I should hardly dare 

 to push it so far. The same symptoms follow the application of a cord 

 to the larynx. It seems to me, though, that then they come on more 

 promptly, and that the respiration is a little interfered with. I have 

 been able to prolong the first experiment for more than two minutes, 



