In 1887 Alfred Porter Southwick of New York was a member of the New York State Commission on Capitol Punishment. (aka “The Death Penalty Commission.”) Their mission was to look for and recommend a more humane method of killing criminals than hanging.
In the course of the commission’s work, Southwick investigated the guillotine. After initially beig intrigued by the “painlessness” of the guillotine, Southwick eventually concluded the following:
“The guillotine is a barbarous mode of execution. Death does not ensue instantaneously, as it should in such cases. In fact, a condemned man and I can agree upon certain eye and mouth signals before his head is laid on the block, and I can communicate intelligently with the severed head for some time after the excution by means of such signals.”
Reference: “Edison and the Electric Chair: A Story of Light and Death” by Mark Essig, 2003, Walker and Company, New York.
The book has no details of how Southwick reached his conclusion.
Regards,
Sky