"The remarkable methods several sul
cldes have adopted In this city recently
call attention io the fact tha; methods
of self destruction are largely matters
of suggestion," said a doctor. "When
a man gets in that condition where he
wants to die. he has little Inventive
ability and adopts the method that has
been brought to his mind. You will no?
tice that after one person kills himself
with acid there follows a long list of
acid suicides, lt is the same with any
unusual method. One person gets up
tin original way, .and that inspires the
next one to try his hand until we have
a whole series of such grewsome nov?
elties.
"1 have proved this theory. Several
years ago I was discussing this feature
of suicide with several friends, includ?
ing the coroner. They ridiculed my
theory. I offered to prove lt. It bap*
j pened that shooting and hanging were
I popular just then. 1 wrote an article
| for a newspaper on the horrors of
| strangulation and pistol wounds and
explained tlie ease with which one
could kill himself with prussic acid.
Death from prussic acid, you know, ls
absolutely Instantaneous and, many be?
lieve, painless. There had not been a
suicide with this acid for more than a
year, but within a week after the arti?
cle was published there were four, and
one of the unfortunates had clippings
of my article in his [locket.
