[continued from previous message]

necessary to tying off the rope; the hangman could not reach the older,
higher, beams. Woodcuts indicate that the usual practice was to have the
rope quite taut before the cart was driven away: the helper on the beam
tied it taut enough to where the person was able to breathe but not much
more. This was probably to ensure that the victim (with hands tied in
front) was not tempted to panic and try to remove the noose while the
hangman was dismounting and walking around to the horse.

Trap. Starting in the late 18th century the modern scaffold began to be
used. Here the victim stood over a trapdoor and the trap was sprung.
Often the scaffold had a long trapdoor so that a number of victims could
be hung at once. Other variants included scaffolds where the entire
front of the floor was the trapdoor, and an early one where the victim
stood on a sort of elevated platform which dropped into the floor (it
was scrapped because it ended to jam; in one particularly unseemly event
the victim was left on tip-toe and kept trying to climb back onto the
scaffold while the hangman pushed his feet back.). With the use of the
scaffold the long-drop hanging eventually was made possible (although it
did not come into use for another century). In a scaffold hanging, the
rope was not necessarily kept taut; there was often a foot or so of
slack. Perhaps this was because the hangman or his assistants could stay
next to the victim, to prevent any attempt to pull the noose off.

Early trapdoors, however, had their own problems. The earliest British
ones were not actually a trapdoor, but a boxlike structure which
extended up above the gallows floor for a couple of feet. On being
tripped, they were supposed to descend. But the mechanism could fail, as
Robert Johnston found in 1818:

"The customary devotions took place, and the unhappy wretch, with an air
of the most undaunted boldness, gave the necessary signal. Nearly a
minute elapsed, however, before the drop could be forced down, and then
it was found that the toes of the wretched culprit were still touching
the surface, so that he remained half suspended, and struggling in the
most frightful manner. It is impossible to find words to express the
horror which pervaded the crowd, while one or two persons were at work
with axes beneath the scaffold, in the vain attempt to hew down a part
of it beneath the feet of the criminal."

There was still plenty of room for a hangman to botch his work. In 1868, Priscilla Biggadyke was hanged in Boston, and the hangman insisted on
putting the noose under her chin, claiming that that caused instant unconsciousness. Newspapers reported rumors that she had struggled for
20 minutes, crying out, and that "her cries were heartrending in the
extreme." The newspaper denies this, stating that "the struggles of the
unhappy woman lasted at least three minutes." Another newspaper reported
that a witness stated "The rope was placed round the neck, with the knot
under the chin, so that deceased breathed for some minutes before death.
The executioner had told him that by the body hanging in that way the
head was thrown backwards on to the spine of the back, so that all
sensation was destroyed, but at all events it did not prevent the
deceased from breathing. She was about three and a half minutes in
dying, from the fall of the drop."

The earliest traps were released by iron bolts (beams similar to the old-fashioned door bolt, not a modern screw-like bolt). The hangman went
into the space below the gallows and pulled the bolts free.

Other modes. There were occasional uses, mostly in the USA, of a reverse principle. The victim stood on the ground. The noose was fastened to a
rope, which in turn was connected to a heavy object such as a box of
rocks. Another rope, holding the rocks, was then cut and the box went
down and the victim went up. Although this seems a practical solution
(and gave two chances to break the neck, one as the victim was jerked
up, another as he fell back down) it faded out.

The Austrians favored a post method. The rope was run over the top of
the post. After it was tied in place, the victim's footing was kicked
away. This did have the virtue of simplicity.

Assisting the victim during slow hanging. On occasions, hangmen might
"assist" the victim, particularly if they had already put up a long
struggle. Presumably this was done when the rope had slid to the side or
front of the neck and the victim was still getting some air.

With the ladder method, the hangman might get on the beam, place his
feet on the victim's shoulders, and stand up. Or he might replace the
ladder if it had been kicked down, and do the same. Or, if it was a high gallows, he might simply grab the victim's feet and pull. Hangmen tended
to like the trapdoor method since they could pull from the privacy of
the area under the gallows, and remedy an error without the spectators
knowing. When a victim's struggles slowed, they could hang on their feet
and with luck make it appear as if they were no longer kicking, thus
making it seem as if they had died most rapidly than was really the case.

One 17th century woodcut indicates a truly remarkable attempt to help a
female victim die. As the hangman pulls on her feet, a soldier takes a
musket and beats on her chest with its butt! With the ladder method,
friends or family sometimes pulled on the victim's legs as well -- in
the case of one woman the hangman drove them off, because they were
pulling so vigorously they were likely to break the rope.

Long drop. Beginning with the British in the period after 1860, the long
drop came into use. Here, the victim is dropped a distance (based on
weight, adjusted for neck size, etc.) calculated to snap their neck.
This is based on the weakness of the upper portion of the spine, just
below the head, which is weak since it bears little weight and must also
turn sideways to let the head turn. The ideal mechanics are that the
spinal column is suddenly bent sideways and backward by the noose. The
side nearest the noose remains intact, and the column pivots on that.
The side away from the noose is subjected to great pressure as the head
pivots, and is crushed (a compression fracture is the technical term) by pressure from the vertebrae above and below it. Pressure of the noose
then pushes the sharp bone fragments against the spinal cord, cutting
it. This is the ideal: in most cases, what happens is that the spine dislocates. That is, it simply pulls apart between two vertebrae and the
spinal column is snapped there by the tension as the neck elongates an
inch or two.

The earliest long drops involved considerable drops, of nine feet or
more. This was probably because the noose was placed at the back of the
neck with no particular preparation. Modern drops are shorter. The noose
is placed at the side of the neck, on the weak side (left for most
people) so that the neck muscles offer less resistance. The rope is
boiled and pre-stretched to remove most of its "give." In the British
system (with a metal loop, sliding freely instead of a noose) a leather
washer encircles the rope above the loop, so that it can be held tightly
to the neck in the right position.

The snapping of the neck does not itself kill. It does paralyze the body
so that no convulsions are seen and, one might hope, the impact or the
tearing renders the victim unconscious. Death actually results from asphyxiation or blood cutoff, as in slow hanging. Incidentally, my
friend who witnessed judicial hangings says there is an audible "crack"
when the neck is properly broken.

Improvisation. This of course relates to official, judicial, hangings.
In unofficial hangings (example the Nazi killings of "partisans" and
anyone who resembled one) the victim was simply forced to stand on
whatever was handy -- stools, chairs, boxes -- and this was then kicked
away. Or the victim was stood on a truck (the modern equivalent of a
cart) and that was driven away. In some locations, the rope was simply
extended over the top of a post and the victim hanged right against the
post. And modern third-world countries have been known to make use of construction hoist trucks to hoist the victim up! Since the object of
these exercises is to create terror, slow hanging was always used. The
SS in particular liked to force its victims to strip so that they could
be hanged naked. In that setting, the degredation was at its maximum, as
the victim was not only exposed, but any demeaning effects -- urination, defecation, erection, ejaculation -- were on full and messy display.

The Physiology.

In the usual slow hanging, asphyxia is actually not produced by
compressing the trachea, the windpipe. Rather, the pressure of the noose
causes the base of the tongue to push backward and upward and thus seal
off breathing. Most pathologists believe that it takes relatively little pressure to completely shut off the flow of air, and suggest that there
would be no gasping or other breathing once the victim is hanged.
However, a medical article that discusses several videotaped suicidal
hangings mentions gasping and wheezing. This may, again, depend on
location of the noose.

The other cause of death is the shutting off of blood flow to the brain,
due to compression of the carotid arteries. This alone is enough to
kill, as shown by several persons who fatally hanged themselves despite
having a tracheostomy hole which enabled them to keep inhaling air.
There is still a little blood flow -- there are the vertebral arteries,
which are inside the spine at the usual noose location and thus shielded
from pressure -- but they are not enough to keep the brain alive for
very long.

Both processes are dependent upon noose placement. At the back of the
neck, the full body weight falls on the windpipe and much of it on the
blood vessels, so both are likely to be sealed off instantly. On the
side of the neck, at least one set of blood vessels are clear and the
windpipe may be partially open. In this setting, the victim may remain conscious longer, and strangulation may take much longer, as the person
is able to breathe, just not enough to keep life going indefinitely. It
is noticeable that persons hanged with the knot at the back often end
with a rather peaceable expression, while those hanged with the knot at
the side appear anguished. The first three images below come from the
hanging of the Nazi prison guards; the last from a recent hanging in Iran.

The Process

The beginning.

The noose snaps upward, snapping the mouth shut, if the noose is at the
back of the neck. The tongue does not protrude. There are a few
exceptions, where the noose initially caught low on the neck and rolls
upward, forcing the tongue out before the pressure hits the jaw; in
these cases the tongue is bitten badly. The other exceptions are where
the noose is placed far on the side of the neck: here the weight falls
on the neck under the far point of the jaw, and the jaw may be free to open.

Survivors report feelings of fullness in the head and clenching in the
jaw. There is also a feeling of weakness which stops them from clutching
at the rope. Survivors also report that the main pain here is not
suffocation, but the bite of the rope and stretching of the neck.
Feelings of suffocation obviously mount as time goes on.

Often the victim panics and begins kicking or trying to reach the ground
with their toes, from the moment they are suspended. This conscious
kicking is distinct from the true convulsions, which come later. In
other cases the victim hangs almost motionless during this period,
perhaps because the body goes rigid from the pain. If the hands are
bound in front, they snap upward to mid-chest and usually clench.

In most cases, suicidal and otherwise, the face does not become
congested. The rope has cut off blood flow into the head, so the face
remains pale and becomes bluish as suffocation progresses. In some
cases, where the blood flow is not fully cut off, the face may become
red. Occasionally, blood escapes from the mouth and nose. Likely this
reflects nosebleeds in cases where the blood pressure rises in the head. Occasionally also, foam or bloody foam is seen at the mouth. This
presumably results where air is not totally cut off and the lungs can
blow some past the knot. All this relates to full suspension. If the
victim is not fully suspended, the face can redden and become engorged.
Blood pressure in the arteries is much higher than in the veins, so
blood can flow into the head while not being able to escape through the
veins.

Consciousness.

In general, the victim is conscious only for a short time, although it
may seem like an eternity. Survivors' reports and pathological studies
suggest consciousness may be lost in as little as 8-10 seconds, due to
cutoff of blood flow, or may last up to nearly a minute. A few survivors
of judicial hangings have reported consciousness well into the
convulsive stages, that they could feel the suffocation and their body
kicking and fighting, but this appears the exception rather than the
rule. Unconsciousness is preceded by "things going black" as the vision
shuts down from lack of oxygen.

Several attempted suicides report, however, that after they became
unconscious they returned to consciousness and felt a great deal of
suffering. How this can occur is unknown, but the reports seem credible.

Knot placement may make a difference here, as noted above A noose at the
side or, worse yet, the front, may allow consciousness and very slow strangulation.

The victim often loses control of their bladder. This seems to occur
around the time when consciousness is lost, and most often just before unconsciousness. Pathologists in strangling cases sometimes use this to
judge whether the victim was strangled when standing up. A long trail of
urine down the skirt or pants suggests that the person was standing
until they passed out and slumped, with their strangler, to the floor. A shorter trail indicates they were already lying down when they reached
this stage. The use of this forensic tool again suggests that bladder
control is lost just before consciousness fades.

Convulsive phase.

This begins about 10-45 seconds into the hanging. Before this stage
begins, the victim's chest will usually heave in futile attempts to
breathe, and the heaving rapidly speeds up. A witness to a hanging of a
woman as a spy in WWI mentioned that her struggles made it seem as if
she was in hysterical laughter, presumably a reference to her chest and shoulders rapidly jerking.

This is rapidly followed by whole-body convulsions. The convulsions can
take a variety of forms, and one form can lead into another. They can be
mild or incredibly powerful: a witness to an early 18th century hanging
of a woman wrote that she jerked so powerfully he thought the rope would
snap.

One form involves violent shivering, as all the muscles begin to
vibrate, clenching and then extending in very rapid spasms. In one
"botched" judicial hanging, the body was out of sight below the trap,
but onlookers knew it was botched because the rope began to hum from the victim's rapid spasms of this type. It would take violent and very rapid
spasms to make a rope hum audibly.

Another involves a clonic seizure, where the muscles simply lock up. In
this case, the legs would be snapped up under the chin and would hold
there for a time.

A more spectacular form is the traditional "Tyburn jig," where the legs
jerk and kick rapidly, sometimes in unison, sometimes separately. (In
one series of 17th century executions, the victims were mocked by having
a musician actually play a jig as they jerked around.).

Another form (and often the last stage of the other forms) involves a
prolonged tightening, to an absolutely incredible degree, of all the
body's muscles. Since the muscles in the back of the body and legs are
far stronger than those in the front, this results in the victim bending backward. (My witness to judicial hangings said that in some cases the
victim's heels nearly touched the back of their head.

If the hands are tied in front, the hands will usually be pulled up to mid-chest during this stage, and only slump down when the convulsive
stage ends. Or they may be thrust straight forward, as if pleading. The
medical journal had images of one suicide dying, arms (unbound) thrust forwards, wrists twisting, If hands are tied behind, the victim will
often hike them up to the small of their back.

The convulsive stage lasts until death or near-death. Reports of
judicial hangings indicate that this takes around ten minutes on
average. In some cases, it took as little as three, and in some cases as
much as twenty. The reasons for the variation are unknown. Two early
18th century persons who survived hanging and became known as
"half-hanged" were said to have been suspended about six minutes. This
would suggest that their convulsions stopped at about that point and the hangman assumed they were dead. (One died later that night; the other
suffered severe brain damage).

Hangmen later were instructed to let the victim hang for an hour, which
of course prevented any survivals. In the mid 19th century, the custom
became that of having a doctor listen for heartbeat, and considering the
victim dead when that stopped.

Death

Brain damage has already begun, at about 3-5 minutes, and it progresses,
as do the convulsions. Over the next five or so minutes the damage
becomes more serious. Even in modern medicine, a complete shut-off (as
in cardiac arrest) for more than 6-7 minutes means death or a vegetative
state. Hanging isn't that dramatic a cutoff of oxygen to the brain, so
there may be a bit of leeway.

The convulsions slow and taper to an end. Usually the last form of
convulsive action is the heaving of the chest after the rest of the body
is still. Occasionally the victim will be still, and then suddenly seize
up. (One person in the 18th century was busily looting a supposedly dead
hanged man, when he kicked them.)

The heart continues to beat for some minutes after all other action
ceases (technically known as agonal beating), until the blood becomes so
acidic from carbon dioxide buildup that the heart stops functioning.

There is the report from old judicial hangings that the victim, at the
point of death (meaning point when convulsions end, since people
watching had no other way to judge) would emit a sort of moan or
whimper. (In Kipling's "Hanging of Danny Deever," he has the onlooking
soldier hear a wimper overhead; he is told that the victim's soul is
passing now.) There may be some reason for skepticism, since the noose
would likely have cut off all air flow, in or out. Perhaps in cases
where the knot was at the front of the neck and some air could flow and
the victim's fight for breath ends with a moan?



19th century medical journals on hanging
Posted: 7-Aug-2011 - 1 comment(s) [ Comment ] - 0 trackback(s) [ Trackback ] Category: Hanging studies
One humorous part is how the authors, confronted with clear signs of
arousal in both male and female victims, hasten to explain it cannot
possibly be due to ... arousal. "This IS the Victorian Age! Nothing
arouses! It is just an embarrassing part of our duty to reproduce!"

The Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, London, 1833

Asphyxia from strangulation.-The third division of the causes of
asphyxia comprehends all those that prevent the access of air to the
lungs, whether by suffocation or strangulation. The most common of these
is a ligature round the neck, as in the case of hanging,

Considerable variety is observed in the length of time during which
vitality continues while criminals are suspended from the gallows; the differences depending, in a great measure, on the mode in which the rope
is adjusted round the neck, the height and suddenness of the fall, and
other circumstances of violence attending the execution. Much also will
depend on the peculiar constitution and previous bodily condition of the individual. Convulsions of an epileptic character very generally
supervene on the loss of sensibility, which, if the closing of the
trachea be complete, as it generally is in consequence of the strong
pressure of the rope, very speedily follows the exclusion of air. The
face is always turgid, and suffused with livid blood. This swelling and turgescence extend also to the shoulders, arms, hands, and chest, which
are of a livid hue. The eyes are generally open, and projecting, and the vessels of the conjunctiva distended with blood. The tongue is
frequently thrust out of the mouth, and wounded by the convulsive action
of the jaws; and a bloody mucus issues, in consequence, from the mouth.

The distortion of the features, and other marks of strong muscular
action, are evidently consequences of the violent struggles of the
sufferer, and are proportional to the irritation excited in the brain.
The muscles which raise the shoulders, and assist the muscles of
inspiration, are strongly contracted. The other muscles of voluntary
motion, instead of being rigid, are more relaxed than usual; so that the
limbs exhibit more flaccidity than in cases of tranquil death. The mark
of the cord will always be evident round the neck, forming, when the
person has been hanged up alive, a livid depressed circle. Frequently we
find patches of ecchymosis on the surface of the upper part of the trunk
and superior extremities.

The fingers are bent, the nails blue, and the hands firmly clenched.
From the relaxation of the sphincters, the urine and faeces are often involuntarily expelled. Erection of the penis and emission of semen also frequently take place from hanging.

It is evident, from all these circumstances, that the struggle is
usually more intense in this mode of death than in drowning. This
happens more especially when, from the inaccurate adjustment of the
rope, from rigidity of the cartilages ,f the larynx, or from any other
cause, the trachea is imperfectly closed: for, in that case, a small
current of air may still pass, and, though insufficient to support life,
may contribute to prolong the sufferings and struggles of the victim.
This is often observed in those who voluntarily hang themselves, and who frequently suffer much before they die, in consequence of their inexpert
mode of executing their purpose; and in whom we consequently find the
cheeks, lips, eyes, and tongue particularly swollen and prominent. In
the same proportion as we meet with these indications of a more
protracted death, we find the lungs less gorged with blood, and the
blood about the heart more equally distributed among its cavities and
great vessels. For, in consequence of the admission of even a small
portion of air into the lungs, the heart is enabled to keep up the
circulation for a longer time, and is only more gradually overpowered;
while, at the same time, the pressure of the rope on the jugular veins
in the neck obstructs the return of the blood from the head, accumulates
it in the vessels of the face, and gives rise to the appearances of
apoplexy.

Dr. Plott, in his Natural History of Staffordshire, relates that in the
reign of Henry VI. a woman of the name of Snetta de Balsham, after
having been hanged according to the sentence of the law, and cut down
after being suspended a whole night, was found to be still alive; in consequence of which extraordinary escape she was pardoned by the king.
of ordinary stature, who had died from hanging, contained in the one
case two hundred and fifty, and in the other two hundred and sixtytwo
cubic inches of air; whereas the lungs of those who die a natural death contained only from ninety to one hundred and twenty-five cubic inches,
or, taking the mean of four experiments, one hundred and nine cubic
inches. The reason of this difference is obvious: persons about to be
hanged are under the influence of fear, and will therefore naturally
make a deep inspiration before the cord is tightened on the neck; and
the pressure of the cord on the trachea, when the body is suspended,
becomes immediately so great, that the air cannot again be expelled.

London Medical and Surgical Journal, London, 1835

It is only by supposing the asphyxia to have been incomplete, that we
can imagine the possibility of the circulation being renewed, and the
brain relieved, that we can account for some of the cases of recovery
after criminal execution by hanging. A man of the name of John Smith,
who was executed at Tyburn, on the 24th December, 1701, was cuyt down in fifteen minutes, in consequence of the arrival of a reprieve; and was
recovered by venesection.

The lecturer related the story of a woman who nas executed at Edinburgh,
in 1828, -revived at Peppermill-she was also bled. Governor Wall was
long in dying; in consequence of which a particular examination of his
throat took place, and it was found to have been owing to an ossified [converted into bone-like tissue] portion of the trachea resisting the
pressure of the rope..

In many instances there is a laceration of the larynx or trachea; the
vertebra; of the neck are often luxated, chiefly owing to rupture of the ligaments of the neck; in which case, also, there is likely to be
compression or nipping of the spinal cord. It is said that two noted executioners at Paris, whose victims perished in different manners,
being questioned as to the cause of this difference, stated that one of
them produced a luxation of the first cervical vertebra from the second,
and a consequent laceration of the trachea, by placing the knot of the
cord under the neck, and giving a rotatory motion to the body on pulling
it from the ladder, whilst the other placed the knot at the back of the
neck, and let his victim fall gently, and without the rotatory movement.
It is not unusual for those who suffer from hanging to void the urine,
fteces, and semen, and to display and erection of the penis in artiatlo
mortis.

In post-mortem examination of the bodies of persons who have been
hanged, independent of the luxations of the vertebra;, and the
lacerations of the cartilages and the trachea, the lungs are found
livid, expanded, and the trachea often filled with bloody froth: the
right cavities of the heart are gorged with blood, whilst the left is
nearly empty; and the blood, which often remains fluid, follows every
incision of the scalpel. The pulmonary cells are distended, and, as in
case of smothering, the 1ungs do not collapse when the chest is opened.
In general, although the face is full of blood, and distorted, yet
sometimes it remains pale, and prevents few indications of cerebral compression. The shoulders are usually raised, from the strong effort
made to inspire, before asphyxia supervenes: there frequently ecchymoses (bruises) observed upon them, extending upon the breast and down the
arms: the fingers are unusually bent, the nails blue, and often the
bunds clenched..

The most prominent diagnostic signs, and those to be depended upon, are,
1. The mark of the cord, seen either at first, or appearing after a few
hours have elapsed.
2. The distortion of features, and the contraction of the muscles which
raise the shoulders.
3. The fingers bent, the nails blue, and the hands firmly clenched.
4. The erectile state of the penis, with the emission of semen, and the expulsion of urine and faces.

The absence, however, of this sign, is no proof against the conclusion,
that hanging has been the cause of death: for although in every instance erection takes place in the act of hanging, yet, an hour or two
afterwards, this state has disappeared, or a semi-erection only exists.

Legal Medicine, New York 1884

The Symptoms produced by Hanging.

Death, as we have said, may be instantaneous and symptomless.
Where the fatal termination is not instantaneous, the four symptoms,
viz., intense heat felt in and within the head-flashes of brilliant
light in the eyes-deafening sounds in the ears-and lastly, a heavy,
benumbed feeling in the lungs, are practically the only symptoms
(although symptoms uniformly present) in death by hanging. Nevertheless
the period of consciousness is invariably very short and unattended with
acute pain. (See detailed account of an experiment in hanging, Med.
Times and Gaz., 1882, ii., p. 729.)

Symptoms vary (so it has been suggested) according to the exact position
of the ligature, and whether the air tubes, or the blood vessels, or
both are compressed. It is useless detailing all that has been said on
this point. As a rule, efforts to inspire are made for at least a minute
after the air passages are closed. Some have spoken of the pleasurable sensations of hanging, whilst others have said it is a painless death.
Although the countenance as a rule in our experience speaks differently,
this may merely bo the result of convulsive straggles which invariably
occur, and do not, any more than in an epileptic fit, necessarily imply
pain. Asphyxia is rapid, a very slight constriction quickly reducing
loss of power and sensation (Cases 53 and 54). Convulsions may, however,
be absent, as is tolerably certain to have been the case in Cases 35 and
38. Urine, faeces, and semen are at times expelled.

And this leads us, in connection with Case 61, to remark that the sudden
and complete interruption to the access of air, from whatever cause it
may happen, may be attended with the effusion of semen into the urethra, without any ejaculation necessarUy occurring to cause its expulsion.
Hence to determine whether effusion of semen has actually occurred,
pressure along the course of the urethra, and a microscopic examination
of the fluid expressed (if any) is required. (Huppert and Muller-Benigna.)
It is evident from recorded cases that hanging may be effected without
persons in rooms immediately adjoining hearing any noise to arouse
suspicion (Cases 36, 37).

Thus in hanging we have in most cases unattended with violence, three
distinct stages:-
(a.) A short stage of semi-consciousness (partial stupor), extending
from thirty seconds to three minutes.
(b) A stage of subjective death but of objective life, varying in time
from ten minutes onwards.
(c) A stage of objective general death, lasting until the occurrence of
rigor mortis.

After the convulsions all the muscles save the heart become quiescent;
but they simplv wait for a stimulus, such as galvanism, heat, etc. (See
"Med. Times and Gaz." 1871, i., p. 43.)
And here it is most important to note that the existence of convulsions
does not indicate sensibility, or a knowledge of life on the part of the
person passing through the ordeal of death. ("British Med. Jour." 1876,
i., p. 664. [Execution of the "Lennie " murderers. ]) And further, it is certain that the action of the heart may continue long after convulsions
have ceased. As a rule the pulse may be felt for ten minutes, and, as a
fact, in judicial executions the right auricle has seldom ceased to act
when the body of the criminal is taken down after the usual time of
suspension. Vol. III.-16

Tardieu mentions a case where the heart beats, numbering eighty, where
heard one and a-half hours after the supposed death.
.
The muscles of the face retained their electro-muscular contractility.

IV.-The Post-Mortem Appearances After Death by Hanging.
We purposely omit nearly all those appearances common to death by apnoea
or coma. (Case 60.)
1. The body may be found stiffened in almost any position, determined principally by its attitude in death (Case 62.)
2. The position of the head varies according to the part of the neck to
which the rope or ligature has been attached, and the position of the
knot . The commonest position in suicide is for the head to be forcibly
flexed forwards, with the chin pressing against the upper part of the
chest. More rarely the head is completely bent back, as in
cerebro-spinal meningitis. The head will always be found inclined to the opposite side to that of the knot, which answers to its fixed attachment.

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