CRUCIFIXION, DEATH BY (physically con sidered), is to be attributed to the sympathetic fever which is excited by the wounds, and aggra vated by exposure to the weather, privation of water, and the painfully constrained position of the body. Traumatic fever corresponds, in in. tensity and in character, to the local inflammation of the wound. In the first stage, while the inflarn mation of the wound is characterized by heat, swelling, and great pain, the fever is highly in flammatory; and the sufferer complains of heat, throbbing headache, intense thirst, restlessness, and anxiety. As soon as suppuration sets in, the fever somewhat abates, and gradually ceases as suppuration diminishes and the stage of cicatrisa tion approaches. But if the wound be prevented from healing, and suppuration continue, the fever assumes a hectic character, and will sooner or later exhaust the powers of life. When, how ever, the inflammation of the wound is so intense as to produce mortification, nervous depression is the immediate consequence ; and if the cause of this excessive inflammation of the wound still continues, as is the case in crucifixion, the sufferer rapidly sinks. He is no longer sensible of pain, but his anxiety and sense of prostration are ex cessive ; hiccup supervenes, his skin is moistened with a cold clammy sweat, and death ensues. It is in this manner that death on the cross must have taken place, in an ordinarily healthy con stitution. The wounds in themselves were not fatal ; but, as long as the nails remained in them, the inflammation must have increased in intensity until it produced gangrene. De la Condamine witnessed the crucifixion of two women of those fanatic Jansenists called Convulsionnaires. One of them, who had been crucified thrice before, remained on the cross for three hours. They suf fered most pain from the operation of extracting the nails ; and it was not until then that they lost more than a few drops of blood from their wounds. After they were taken down, they seemed to suffer little, and speedily recovered (Correspond. de Grimm et Diderot, ii. 75). The probabilities of recovery after crucifixion would of course de pend on the degree of constitutional irritation that had been already excited. Josephus (Vita, 75) relates that of three of his friends, for whom he had obtained a release from the cross, only one survived. The period at which death oc curred was very variable, as it depended on the constitution of the sufferer, as well as on the degree of exposure, and the state of the weather. It may,
however, be asserted that death would not take place until the local inflammation had run its course ; and though this process may be much hastened by fatigue and the alternate exposure to the rays of the sun and the cold night air, it is not completed before forty-eight hours, under ordinary circumstances, and in healthy constitutions ; so that we may consider thirty-six hours to be the earliest period at which crucifixion would occasion death in a healthy adult. Many of the wounded at Waterloo were brought into the hospitals after having lain three days on the field, and even then sometimes recovered from severe operations. It cannot be objected that the heat of an Eastern climate may not have been duly considered in the above estimate ; for many cases are recorded of persons having survived a much longer time than is here mentioned, even as long as eight or nine days. Eusebins (Hist. Eccles. iii. 3) says that many of the martyrs in Egypt, who were crucified with their heads downwards, perished by hunger. This assertion, however, must not be misunder stood. It was very natural to suppose that hunger was the cause of death, when it was known that no food had been taken, and when, as must have happened in lingering cases of crucifixion, the body was seen to be emaciated. But it has been shewn above that the nails in the hands and feet must inevitably have given rise to such a degree of inflammation as to produce mortification, and ultimately death ; and it is equally certain that food would not, under such circumstances, have contributed to support life. Moreover, it may be added that after the first few hours, as soon as fever had been fully excited, the sufferer would lose all desire for food. The want of water was a much more important privation. It must have caused the sufferer inexpressible anguish, and have contributed in no slight degree to hasten death. As-Sujuti, a celebrated Arabic writer, gives an interesting account of a young Turk who was crucified at Damascus A.D. 1247. It is particu larly mentioned that his hands and feet were nailed, and even his arms (but not as if it was in any way remarkable). He complained of intense thirst on the first day, and his sufferings were greatly increased by his continually seeing before him the waters of the Barada, on the banks of which he was crucified. He survived two days, from the noon of Friday to the noon of Sunday (Kosegarten, Chrestomathia Arabica, p. 63, sq.) W. A. N.