a
reference to
French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814). A
guillotine is a
machine used for beheading people, basically consisting of two upright posts which are
grooved on the inside so as to guide a weighted blade down onto and through a person's neck. Due to Guillotin's
efforts, the
guillotine was employed in
France for
capital punishment shortly after the start of the
French Revolution (1789- 1799). He suggested that the
guillotine be used for all executions as he considered it a quick and merciful way to die and the
machine subsequently came to
bear his name and continued to be used in
France until the
late twentieth century.