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IIRC, you were lucky if you got decapitated in one stroke. It sometimes took three or four.
------------------ "I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That "all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people . . ." To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition." - Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1791
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I wonder, how do you determine when the person is dead? When their head dies, when their body dies, or both?
------------------ "It'd be a pity if every pencil on Earth suddenly collapsed in on itself and blew everything up." -Krenim, TNO chat, September 30, 1999
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Actually, I suppose death comes when enough of one or the other sustains enough damage to render it nonfunctional. If your brain dies, the body will likely soon follow. Likewise, the body will not last long without extensive intervention if the brain takes a hike.
Actually, I'll bet the guillotine isn't painless. It's just that you'd only feel the incision along your neck. I would guess that the nerves which send pain signals to the brain attach above the point where the neck would be severed.
On the other hand, I once knew a friend who was a Vietnam vet who had been shot once or twice during his tour. He said that he didn't feel any pain for a few minutes. He knew he'd been hit, but his adrenal glands must've gone into overdrive.
My personal theory (bolstered by wee-hours collisions betwixt my toes and furniture) is that when an injury occurs, it can take several seconds before the sensation registers as pain. It's as if the nerves are saying:
"Uh-oh! This is bad! Somebody's gotta tell the brain about this!"
"Oh, no, I ain't telling the brain! You tell the brain!"
"Not me!"
"Well, somebody's gotta do it!"
"Tell ya what. We'll tell the brain on the count of three."
"Okay, I'll count: One, Two..."
"Wait! Wait! Just how bad is it?"
"I dunno, but the eyes just had a look. We'd better say something now!"
And so forth.
Actually, the Guillotine was, if not invented, then at least perfected by French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin. He developed and tested (on cadavers) a "machine" that would be, in the opinion of the medical community at that time (1792) a more humane form of execution than the methods currently being employed.
Here's a link to a site that gives a bit more detail:
Of course they wouldn't try to hold their breath after their head was chopped off. They'd have nothing to hold it in!
------------------ "I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That "all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people . . ." To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition." - Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1791
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