UNKNOWN

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 58, 28 June 1876, Page 3

UNKNOWN

■|-j„. frvuM n"; 'r nes ;■i• i■. <-; 11 v :'. in-,' tV' t . v,-r! i !'i' >ll ..<* *. V'l.!.: m '.ln ! i ' ttvll C*h - ul." - '! ' I >■" I" : I': '.' Mm.' ' !■ -n ;-ug as a m".U; of | puMstuneii-l;. i . , j'ii,' {., :n'illr)• -;: iot whthth an! luwil; h an-' f,,r in the building of pvisotis. in ,i 1 (. 1,,, in.i i nei.fc in I ran- '>►' < onviuta. and j .Mi",' i..>.)!• :'|i ri »nvefcion;v? .'-v.--f.eui : at.d , .4'iHj.!t< and rtwy a prncew« ;-m thu of human life they are tili■'i'lV i :•'•• d. 'I'll,; niusfc ill it a-ll'l jo !11 lideath | iin;v:i to .•-•■''ience in causeil by the lightj n „ t4 |.i>i>kt:, of l>y v.-hat ami>utits to the sihm' liltiti".'. tin: electa".: klioclc. V\ ben a "invrrl'til «|isi:!iarg'; I'f electricity i.-t reill the body, existence simply sN.;.s. ;H ,il |;|ni reason is obvious. lielmholtv: \ m ~r..vet. vet I that. t'"f any vihvatiori which ivsiili'.-s in MeiiKation to reach tin" b' - airi l[ n ~,,j.; h the nerves, one-tenth of a .-eciuwl „l' iniie in rci|iiii - cil. fc'iu-thenuore, time j,, ~!:•(, nerleil for the moleenlea of the l„«uii t.i> arranu'e theiuselvtn through t | u , ~n;.( :| -, of that vibration, through Mm uiotimiw and (.>o»ition.* necessary to tii! ceiiipletion <'f c'on.scioit.wess, atul for tnK int. additional peril"l one-tenth of a Br mid i:» expeiulcd. t'onst"|.uently. if, t'ir rN.'inil we prick our linger ivith. a pin, it. takes lavo-tenths of a second for t,n fuel and rtwgnise the hurt. ft can wisily he i:niiceiveil, therefore, that if an injury is attltcted wh-icli- instantly unlit* fclw nerves to transmit the motion which (•(!,milts in sensation, or if the animating piavur is suddenly .suspended: by ari injury ti, the lifaiu before the tatter completes uonscii'iisness, then death inevitably fotlows with- no intervention of sensibility wluitcvef.

jimv a rille-bullet, which trowm* tU«" Irani tn (she one-thousandth of a sc.'eorwt, numifi'sHy must cause this instant stoppuiji! df existence, »rut proof of tlii.s b fmmtl in fctio ptachl faces of the dead. a,ml in flin fact that there b nothing Lniuou than to Unit tuen tying dead on iiuMlu-field-i, shot through the brain. with Lvory member atift'tnustl in this vxaut post[ion if. was in when tht> bullet sliil its jroi'k. But a rille Imlt is slow beside the ilcutric shock. Persistence of vision iuv Luskcs ;i. liirUkrtiug Hash oti the refcuu* for im-sis.th of a swotid, but it* actual ♦trvnv ioii iu bandy outtdiundredth-thousaac'i of , HlMMltul. The clt'cct of the shock on the system b eccrlleukly described by PVofeswor iyndaU. i-lid, while lecturim* before a targe au> .iuiHtiN inadvertently touched the wire i'lidint-C from- fifteen charged Leyden jars, ml received the whole discharge through in Ik it Iy. the shoe It was nut inviu'fui enoru'ji to be fatal ; but as the iot.mTH' regained his senses, he experienced to astonishing sensation of all fib tueruhi'S being separate and gradually fasteniif tlunnsflvert together. He says,, howi'iu\ that'. life was blotted out for a. senWe intervaland lie dwells with tuitch n-'.'.w upon the opinion that " there eau>k hr a iloiihfe that. to a person struck by ;htnmg, the puss;u;'e from- life to death iimu'm without consciousness being in the list degree implicated. Et is an abrupt uppnUe of sensation, unaccompanied by l>ung." So much for the death which, f suitable alteration of the taw, we would ivu substituted for slow straugnt»tiou. ho next point is its practical aeeenu-

lislummt. ' Innlfuil of hniltlinjj :» gallows and proilinu r rope, Mic sin-rdF, advised by a. c»iu~ limit would procure a nviTi'ul tMitimkortt' coil ami a heaty itU'vy. These instruments would rarely !«l replacing, anil would last irutetinUelly i' other executions. The battery and il slinnM In- of suHieieu-t sf.rtngth- ho t-le-wan tWnuli spark. In «v« «f there JUiU' more than one person to by exeiit'il, all of the condemned would, inj roft* ■luted with all due ceremony to the j>laet> rami.ion, the let't hand o? ony wan imiunlied to the I'tLfb fc hand of his tu-tVfi* "ii 1 . ••iihl the conducting" wire fastened to "uvleU on the disentjaifed wri-sts of bof.ti. iiiiiiiiiln, if only two are to by hanged,. or flu' wrist.-! of tliy outy i* inert* if more ■in tliat mmibi-v art; to suffer. The cutU lining m-ntrd so as to be seen-by the pl witihs.-u's, tiiu sUerUV presses* a. "tun. Tin- current I.s instantly estab!M from tlm coil. pusses through the "'ii' l4 tin' "un, :<nd all is over. With ('"nipriint eleel riri:-n, who might be nieuilici- (if policy forew* Spe'Hy elmrgnl with the duty,, there •'•llil hi; no possibility of mistake. The liHi >••»«'tiiitty which attaches! to the |il"\vs wni'M be transferred to this- mode destrurlit.n. while the peculiar death ''"Jilienv, which, among the ignorant ■'l'"ations ;uul ages. has been the sabt'f" l |'i'"i"tuul supers tstion, wontt-t, withM«>uU, through its very iruompreheri' ''".Vaiul mystery, imbue the uneducated '■-m s '.vith a deeper Uorvor.— '* Scientific