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.