=Judicial Hanging.=--In judicial hanging the prisoner is suspended by a rope with a running noose around the neck, after a sudden drop of from six to eight feet according to the weight of the body. The noose may be arranged with the knot or slip-ring fixed at the side below the ear, or in front so as to jerk the head backwards. The sudden and severe strain upon the neck produces fracture or dislocation of the spinal column at the second or third cervical vertebra, with rupture of the spinal cord. Other local injuries occur, such as rupture of cervical muscles, fracture of the larynx, and even lacerated wounds of the neck. The head has even been severed completely from the body, and the deep structures of the neck have even been so lacerated that the body has hung by skin only, stretched to the thickness of two or three fingers. Death is said to take place from shock, pressure on the vagi, and asphyxia, probably also cerebral apoplexy. When death is instantaneous, the body hangs motionless, the head fallen over the side opposite the knot, and the neck stretched. The heart may, however, continue to beat for a varying period after apparent death--in some cases even as long as 14½ minutes. The following interesting series of pulse tracings were taken by Dr. Llewellyn Morgan, of Liverpool, and kindly placed at my disposal. In No. 1 the heart beats could be recorded at the wrist for 14½ minutes after the drop; in No. 2 for 12½ minutes; and in No. 3 for 12 minutes. The frequency and character of the beat is variable, but in each case shows a practically normal rate towards the end. (See Figs. 16, 17, 18.) Apart from the local injuries to the neck, the external appearances in judicial hanging are similar to those in other forms. CHAPTER IX DROWNING Death by drowning occurs when the breathing is arrested by watery or semi-fluid substances, blood, urine, or the muddy semi-fluid matter found in cesspools and marshes. It is not necessary for the whole body to be submerged. Death may result if the face alone be immersed, as in the case of a man in a fit of drunkenness being drowned in the water contained in the imprint of a horse‘s hoof left in the mud. In addition to the changes in the internal organs, identical with those present in persons who have died from suffocation or hanging, water is found in the lungs or stomach. Death may be due to-- (_a_) Apoplexy. (_b_) Asphyxia. (_c_) A combination of the two. (_d_) Neuro-paralysis. Death from pure apoplexy is rare; and it may be affirmed that death from syncope never occurs in the drowned without leaving some signs of asphyxia. It is more difficult to restore the drowned than those dying from mere stoppage of air from entering the lungs. Few if any persons recover who have been submerged four minutes, and even in cases where this time has been exceeded, followed by recovery, this result is probably due to the person fainting before entering the water.