A handy-book of forensic medicine and toxicology / by W. Bathurst Woodman and Charles Meymott Tidy.

Date:
1877
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A handy-book of forensic medicine and toxicology / by W. Bathurst Woodman and Charles Meymott Tidy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    1110/1268 (page 1074)
    “Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed.” “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods &c.,” says St. Paul, 2 Corinth, xi., 24-25. The cause of death in these cases was not always the same. Sometimes it was due to shock or fright, inducing fatal syncope; sometimes to exhaustion, inducing fatal conse- quences by oedema of the lungs, or effusion into serous cavities, such as the pericardium, pleurae or ventricles of the brain; in fact, much the same modes of death as in burns. The amount of tissue killed, and the extent of skin not only injured but put out of work, must, as in bums, be taken into consideration. The flogging block used at Newgate is said to “resemble a box with a high back. The lid and one side are opened, and the man steps in, placing his heels in notches cut out of a plank parallel to the bottom, and a few inches above it; his toes go under the plank, and when the lid and side are shut his legs are firmly fixed. He then places his hands in holes, like those in the stocks, made in the back of the machine. Consequently all movement becomes impossible. No intimation is given as to when the punishment is to take place, and a man is therefore kept in a state of ignorance as to both day and hour till some fifteen minutes before the time. The punishment is very severe, though the number of lashes seldom exceeds thirty, for the ‘ cat ’ has a larger handle, and is made of thicker cord than the ‘cat’ used in the army. Besides, the executioners are strong men, and not drum- mer-boys.” Mi-. Gibson, the experienced surgeon of Newgate, has kindly informed us that no untoward accident has occurred from flogging at Newgate. He is careful to examime the pulse before, and from time to time during the punishment. On the other hand, he has never known excitement of the genital organs produced, probably because the punish- ment falls chiefly on the shoulders and upper part of the back. There is usually little difficulty in recognising the marks of a severe flagellation, no matter what the instrument. There are cicatrices, and these often undergo a cheloidal thickening and contraction. A few years ago photographs of the marks produced by the flogging of a run- away slave were sold and exhibited in most of the print-shops. Governor Wall was tried before the Lord Chief Baron, some years ago, for causing the death of a man by excessive punishment, by flagellation. The defence was, that the deceased had destroyed himself, by the immoderate use of spirits, while under treatment in the hospital. The judge laid it down that no man was entitled to place another in so perilous a pre- dicament as to make the preservation of his life depend merely on his own prudence, He further remarked that the long continuance and severity of pain (in flagellation) may be productive of as fatal conse- quences as if instruments or weapons of a destructive kind were used. Some years ago [Lewes Autumn Assizes, 1860] a school-master named Hopley was tried for causing the death of a youth of sixteen (a delicate and somewhat weak-minded lad) by beating him most severely for nearly two hours with a rope and a stick. The skin was little injured, but the muscles exhibited great bruising and laceration, and there were exten- sive ecchymoses. There were marks of blood on the prisoner’s clothing, which he tried to conceal. In general, unless the number of blows be too excessive, some idea of the instrument used may be formed by® bruises or marks. But a broad flat sort of paddle, used by the plan ers in the Southern States, was said to leave hardly any marks.