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STRALSUND 113 STRASSBURG its gates to Prussia and her allies in 1715, to the French in 1807, and to the Danes and others in 1809. The town was held by the Swedes from 1628 to 1814; in the year following (1815) Den- mark gave it up to Prussia. STRANGULATION, an act of violence in which constriction is applied directly to the neck, either around it or in the forepart, in such a way as to destroy life. This definition obviously includes hang- ing which differs from other forms of strangulation, only in that the body is suspended. The direct cause of death in the great majority of cases is arrest of the respiration owing to pressure on the windpipe — i. e., asphyxia. If much violence is used, death may be produced by direct injury to the upper part of the spinal cord from fracture or dislocation of the cervical vertebras (as is now the rule in execution by hanging), or by syncope from shock, and in such cases must be almost instantaneous; on the other hand, if the constriction is so ap- plied as to compress the great vessels in the neck and not the windpipe, as may happen in "garotting," it is due to coma, and is somewhat slower than in cases of asphyxia. Or if both vessels and wind- pipe are compressed, coma and asphyxia may both contribute to cause death. When suspension of the body has not continued for much more than five min- utes, and the parts about the neck have not suffered violence, there is a proba- bility that resuscitation may be estab- lished; though many cases are recorded when after only a few minutes' suspen- sion it has been found impossible to re- store life. Moreover, if a person who has hanged himself has been cut down sufficiently soon to allow of the respira- tory process being restored, he is by no means safe: death often taking place from secondary effects at various pe- riods after the accident. The treatment to be adopted after the patient has been cut down may be briefly summed up as follows: Exposure to a free current of air, cold affusion if the skin is warm, the application of ammo- nia to the nostrils, of mustard poultices to the chest and legs, and of hot water to the feet, and the subsequent abstrac- tion of blood if there should be much cerebral congestion; above all, artificial respiration should be used if natural breathing do not at once commence. In manual strangulation the external marks of injury will be in front of the neck, about and below the larynx ; and if death has been caused by a ligature the mark round the neck will be circular, whereas in hanging it is usually oblique. The internal appearances are much the same as in the case of hanging. See As- phyxia. STRANGURY, a symptom of various affections of the urinary organs. It consists in a frequent and irresistible desire to pass water, the urine being dis- charged in small quantity and accom- panied with scalding, cutting pains in the urethra, which sometimes extend to the bladder, the kidneys, and the rectum. Strangury may be caused by idiopathic urethritis, by gonorrhoea, or by such ir- ritating substances as cantharides and oil of turpentine, or by gravel or calcu- lus in the bladder. STRANSKY, JOSEF, an orchestral conductor, born in Czecho-Slovakia, in 1872. He was educated in the univer- sities of Prague and Leipzig, and studied music at the latter city and at Vienna. From 1898 to 1903 he was conductor at the Opera in Prague. From 1903 to 1910 he was conductor of the Opera at Ham- burg. He followed this with service in orchestras in Berlin and Dresden. In 1911 he was appointed conductor of the Philharmonic Society of New York. He composed songs, many operas, and much orchestra music. STRASSBURG, a town and fortress of France, in Alsace; capital of the terri- tory of Alsace-Lorraine; on the 111; about 2 miles W. of the Rhine, to which its glacis extends; 250 miles E. by S. of Paris, and about 370 miles S. W. of Berlin. By means of canals which unite the 111 with the Rhine, Rhone, and Maine, it is brought into communication with the Atlantic and the Mediterra- nean. It has always been regarded as a place of strategical importance, and strong fortifications and a pentagonal citadel were erected by Vauban in 1682- 1684. Since the siege of 1870 by the Germans these have been considerably altered and strengthened, the new sys- tem of defense adopted including 14 de- tached forts situated from 3 to 5 miles from the center of the town. The streets in the older parts are irregular and quaint of aspect, but since the removal of part of the old fortifications the mod- ern portions have greatly expanded. The chief building is the cathedral, a struc- ture which presents the architectural styles of the centuries from the 11th to the 15th, in which it was built, but whose main element is Gothic. It is surmounted by towers 466 feet high, has a splendid W. facade, with statues and great rose window, fine painted glass windows, and a famous astronomical clock, made in 1547-1580. The other notable buildings are tlio Church of St. Thomas, the Tem-