From the Diet of Worms to the Augsburg Confession - James Aitken Wylie

others. Its air is dank and cold, and the water is
filtering through the rock overhead. It is full of
darkness, but there are worse things in it than
darkness, which we can see by the help of our
guide's lantern. Against the wall leans what seems
a ladder; it is a machine of torture of the kind we
have already described, only used vertically instead
of horizontally. The person is hauled up by a rope,
with a weight attached to his feet, and then he is let
suddenly down, the rolling prisms grazing, as
before, his naked back in his rapid descent.
There is yet another "torture" in this horrible
chamber. In the center of the roof is an iron ring.
Through the ring passes a strong iron chain, which
hangs down and is attached to a windlass. On the
floor lies a great block of stone with a ring in it.
This block was attached to the feet of the victim;
his hands were tied behind his back with the iron
chain; and, thus bound, he was pulled up to the
roof, and suddenly let fall to within a foot or so of
the floor. The jerk of the descending block was so
severe as commonly to dislocate his limbs.
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