which was actually given. This is an extreme case, with a very heavy man, but all through the table it will be found that the drop works out shorter than in the first table. For instance, Vickers and Innes, the two Edinburgh murderers previously referred to would have had their drops reduced from 8 ft. 6 in. and 10 ft. to 5 ft. 6 in. and 7 ft. respectively if they had been treated according to the present revised table. On August 20th, 1891, at Kirkdale Gaol, Liverpool, at the execution of John Conway, an attempt was made to dictate to me the length of drop, and a most unfortunate scene ensued. From seeing the convict, Conway, I had decided that the drop ought to be 4 ft. 6 in., a little under the scale rate; and I was surprised and annoyed at being told by Dr. Barr, acting, I believe, under authority, that I was to give a drop of 6 ft. 9 in. I said that it would pull the man's head off altogether, and finally refused to go on with the execution if such a long drop were given. Dr. Barr then measured off a shorter drop, some ten or twelve inches shorter, but still much longer than I thought necessary, and I reluctantly agreed to go on. The result, everyone knows. The drop was not so long as to absolutely pull off the victim's head, but it ruptured the principal blood-vessels of the neck. SCALE SHOWING THE STRIKING FORCE OF FALLING BODIES AT DIFFERENT DISTANCES. +--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ |Distance| | | | | |Falling | 8 Stone | 9 Stone | 10 Stone | 11 Stone | |in Feet | | | | | | Zero | | | | | +--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ | |Cw. Qr. lb.|Cw. Qr. lb.|Cw. Qr. lb.|Cw. Qr. lb.| | 1 Ft. | 8 0 0 | 9 0 0 |10 0 0 |11 0 0 | | 2 " |11 1 15 |12 2 23 |14 0 14 |15 2 4 | | 3 " |13 3 16 |15 2 15 |17 1 14 |19 0 12 | | 4 " |16 0 0 |18 0 0 |20 0 0 |22 0 0 | | 5 " |17 2 11 |19 3 5 |22 0 0 |24 0 22 | | 6 " |19 2 11 |22 0 5 |24 2 0 |26 3 22 | | 7 " |21 0 22 |23 3 11 |26 2 0 |29 0 16 | | 8 " |22 2 22 |25 2 4 |28 1 14 |31 0 23 | | 9 " |24 0 11 |27 0 12 |30 0 14 |33 0 23 | | 10 " |25 1 5 |28 1 23 |31 2 14 |34 3 4 | +--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+