Guillotine

(3 syl. ). So named from Joseph Ignace Guillotin, a French physician, who proposed its adoption, to prevent unnece ary pain. Dr. Guillotin did not invent the guillotine, but he improved the Italian machine (1791). In 1792 Antoine Louis introduced further improvements, and hence the instrument is sometimes called Louisette, or Louis on . The original Italian machine was called mannaja ; it was a clumsy affair, first employed to decapitate Be at rice Cenci, in Rome, A.D. 1600. It was the popular theme for jests. It was [called La mère Guillotine ], the “sharp female,” the “best cure for headache.” It “infallibly prevented the hair from turning grey.” It “imparted a peculiar delicacy to the complexion.” It was the “national razor,” which shaved close. Those “who ki ed the guillotine, looked through the little window and sneezed into the sack.” It was the sign of “the regeneration of the human race.” It “superseded the cro .” Models were worn[ as ornaments ].—C. Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities , iii. 4 (1859).