THE "DEAD POINT" IN MIND TENSION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 209, 12 October 1878, Page 5

THE " DEAD POINT " IN MIND TENSION.

The London " Lancet " discoursing on the mental conditions of persons about to be executed, says: — It is a prevalent but groundless error to suppose that the state of mind in which most capital cfifandefs meet their doum is one of scare or. paralyzing amazement. They relairi every faculfy of taste, consideration, and even fancy. They frequently give ; tokens of especial thoughtfulness, and are punctilious in the observance of rules and the adoption of measures to roiniraise their own pain, and the trouble end sympathetic suffering of thoße by whom they are eurrouuded, or who will bo left burdened with their memories. Mentally end physically, the criminal, during the last few hours of His life, in the immediate presence of a cruel death, is selfpossessed and tranquil. His pulse iseven less disturbed than those of the officials who are compelled to tnhe part in the execution. Why ia ibis ? The answer will be obvious oh reflection. The mind has reached what may be designsted a " dead point " in its tension. The excitement is over, the agony of anticipation, the trembling doubt between hope and fear of escape, has exhausted the irritability of the mind, aud there is, as it were, a pause, an interval of passive endurance between the end of the struggle for life and the bitterness of remorae and agony of disappointment which may begin nt death. Ia this interval the mind is released from the tension of its effort for self-preser-vation, and almost rebounds with a aenea of relief that comes with certainty, even though the assurance ba that, of impending deith. In the pauas there is time and opportunity for the recognition of surrounding circumstances, which have been, aa it werp, overlooked in the yearning for Ufa. The clearness of mental vision, the cognizance of detail displayed at such a moment, are remarkable, not only on account of the Btrange circumstances under which ths-y ocour, but in degree. Men and women who have for some lime previously no trace of delicacy or refinement, exhibit characteristic traits of thoughtfulness. They are, so to gay, lifted out of themaelveF, and placed in new conditions calculated to awaken feelings of courtesy, which seldom fail to respond. The mental state of a criminal during; the boarß preceding execution, presents features of intense interest to the psychologist, and rightly oomprehenied, it is to be feared they would throw new light on the supposed preparation these unfortunate persons evince for a fate which, being: inevitable, fiey at the first moment are able to meet with a composure in which hypocrisy or self-deception find the amplest ssope.