760 



STRANGLES 



STRAPAROLA 



in 1825, anil died 29th May 1855. His translation 

 of the Rimat of Camoens "lie published in 1K03. 

 His youngest son, I'KHCV KI.I.KS KHKI>KI:K-K. 

 WII.LJAM SMYTH K, was Imrn at Si 1'eu-rxburg, 

 .nth November 1825, ami had his education at 

 Harrow ami Merton OoUtga, Oxford. Hi- entered 

 tin- ili|>loinatic service, early acquired an un- 

 exampled command of languages, and served as 

 (iiiental secretary dining the Crimean war. In 

 1857 he returned home to succeed as eighth and 

 l.i-t viscount, thereafter lived mostly in London, 

 imiiiersed in philological studies tanging from 

 Turkish, Persian, Arabic, and Afghan to Basque, 

 I ''-Inc., and Lithuanian, and died there, 9th .lanuary 

 1869. In spite of his phenomenal acquirements, he 

 wrote little more than a few Saturday, Pall Mull, 

 and Quarterly articles. His Selected Writings: 

 Political, Geographical, and Social, was edited by 

 his widow (2 vols. 1869), who also published liis 

 Letter* and Papers upon Philological and Kindrrd 

 Xiihjccts (1878). See Fonblanque's Lives of the 

 Lordt Strangford ( 1878). 



Strangles is a contagious eruptive disorder 

 peculiar to young horses. It is ushered in by sore 

 throat and cough, a muco-purulent nasal discharge, 

 and the eruption of a swelling in the space bet\\ ecu 

 the branches of the lower jaw. In a few days 

 this swelling comes to a head, bursts, and in favoiir- 

 ahle cases the patient is soon well again. From 

 exposure to cold, poverty, or other causes, the 

 swelling, however, occasionally appears in less 

 favourable situations, as about the glands lying 

 within the shoulder, in those of the groin, or even 

 in those of the mesentery. Such irregular coses 

 are apt to be protracted, accompanied liv much 

 weakness, and sometimes prove fatal. Bleeding, 

 physic, and irritant dre. -ings are injurious. Good 

 food and nursing, with fomentations to the throat 

 and steaming of the head, favour the healthier 

 maturation of the swelling. When there is 

 debility, coax the animal to eat by offering him at 

 short intervals small quantities of scalded oats, 

 malt, bran, or grtH'n food, and allow him several 

 times daily a pint of sound ale. if he will drink it, 

 but do not force it upon him, as the throat is often 

 irritable and the animal might be choked. 



Strangulation may lie defined as an act of 

 violence in which constriction is applied directlv 

 to the neck, either around it or in the forepart, in 

 such a way as to destroy life. This definition 

 obviously includes hanging, which differs from 

 other forms of si rangulation only in that the body 

 is suspended. The direct cause of death in the 

 great majority of cases is arrest of the respiration 

 owing to pressure on the windpipe i.e. asphyxia. 

 If much violence is used, it may lie produced by 

 direct injury to the upper part of the spinal cord 

 from fracture or dislocation of the cervical vertebra- 

 Co* is now the rule in execution by hanging), or 

 liv syncope from shock, and in such cases must IKS 

 almost instantaneous. On the other hand, if the 

 ''iiistriction is so applied as to compress the great 

 vessels in the neck and not the, windpipe, as may 

 happen in 'garotting,' it is due to coma, ami i- 

 somewhat slower than in cases of asphyxia. Or if 

 both vessels and windpipe are compressed, coma 

 and asphyxia may both contribute to cause death. 



The internal appearances of the Ixidy after death 

 are those of Asnhyxia (q.v.), with specially marked 

 congestion of tne brain ; the most constant exter- 

 nal appearances are congestion of the face, with 

 prominence of the eyes and protrusion of the 

 tongue, and marks on the neck cone~ponding to 

 the cord or other constricting agent. The latter 

 are most evident and the injuries to the neck most 

 severe in homicidal cases. Death by hanging 

 (excepting judicial executions) is almost always 



suicidal : by other forms of strangulation it also 

 is frequently suicidal, but often homicidal. A. i 

 dental strangulation in any form is rare. 



\Vhen suspension of the body has not continued 

 for much more than live minutes, and the | 

 alMiut the neck have not snllcrcd violence, iln' 

 a probability that resuscitation may IK- established ; 

 although many cases are recorded "when after only 

 a few minutes' BusjM-nsion it has lieen found im- 

 possible to restore life. Moreover, if a per -on ho 

 has hanged himself has been cut down sufficiently 

 soon to allow of the respiratory process lieing 

 restored, he is by no means safe: death often 

 taking place from secondary effects at various 

 periods after the accident. It is believed that 

 unconsciousness comes on very rapidly, and death 

 takes place without causing any suffering; tin- 

 violent convulsions that are so often observed being 

 similar to those which occur in epilepsy. In 

 homicidal cases, however, the appearance of tin- 

 face sometimes indicates much distress. A man 

 named Hornshaw, who was on three occasions 

 resuscitated from banging a feat which he per- 

 formed in London for the amusement of the public 

 stated that he lost his senses almost at once ; 

 and other persons who have been restored state- 

 that the only symptoms of which they were con- 

 scious were a ringing in the ears, a flash of light 

 In-fore the eyes, then darkness and oblivion. The 

 treatment to be adopted after the patient has been 

 cut down may be briefly summed up as follows : 

 Exposure to a free current of air, cold allusion if 

 the skin is warm, the application of ammonia to 

 the nostrils, of mustard poultices to the chest and 

 legs, and of hot water to the feet, and the subse- 

 quent abstraction of blood if there should l>e much 

 cerebral congestion ; aliove all, artificial respiration 

 should be used if natural breathing do not at once- 

 commence. From the post-mortem appearances, 

 together with circumstantial evidence, the medical 

 practitioner is not {infrequently called U|K>II to 

 decide such questions as these : \\ as death caused 

 by hanging, or was the body suspended after 

 death ? Was the strangulation the result of acci- 

 dent, homicide, or suicide? In case of strangula- 

 tion from other causes than that of hanging the 

 post-mortem symptoms are similar, but the injury 

 done to the parts about the neck is commonly 

 greater. In manual strangulation the external 

 marks of injury will be in front of the neck, about 

 and below the larynx ; and if death has been 

 caused by a ligature the mark round the neck will 

 be circular, whereas in hanging it is usually 

 oblique. The internal appearances are much the 

 same as in the case of hanging. See Taylor's or 

 other text-lMiok of Medical Jurisprudence." 

 Strangury. See URINE. 



Strnnrnrr. a royal burgh and seaport of 

 western Wigtownshire, beautifully situated at the 

 head of Loch Hyan, 73 miles WSW. of Dumfries by 

 rail. The buildings are a Kith ccrruiy castlu in 

 which the bloody Chiverliouse. lived as sheriff, the 

 new town-hall and court house( 1872-73 ),and several 



liands e churches. There are no nianufactiin-. 



lint considerable trade in farm-produce. Loch Kyan 

 iffords fair fishing, but not now in oysters. There 

 is a small but constant shipping-trade in lioUoms 

 lielonging to the town, and a commodious mail 

 steamer plies daily lietween Stranraer ami I. aim- 

 in Ireland, the 'short-sea passage* merely taking 

 ilioui 2i hours, only half being in open channel. 

 Pop. of royal burgh ("1871 ) 5977 ; ( 1881 ) 6415 ; ( 1891 ) 

 ill'.'!. Till iss'i Stiamacr returned one member 

 with Wigtown (q.v.). 



Straparola. GIOVAN FRANCESCO, was born 

 near the end of the 15th century at Caravaggio, 

 about half-way between Milan and Cremona. In- 



