The Sun.
London, England, 1804-11-10 00:00:00

but there rethaineiftibtliiittif the 'skin, the muszlesso
and the vii era tig bores of the 'cranium. thett
.breast,- the spine, araf Act upper extretnitrim levee)
`entirely calcined, and coveted with a whitish ef...k
floreieenee. The people were inuelt surori4edolnit
die furniture had sustained SO litti#: iojorte ieTheo
'side of the bed which was next" tis, ate!
,clijmney_
;had suffered the most ; the woothofiiv.wilt.filighlY
burnt, but the feather.becli 'the elotheati7AtAdcov cf.!.
tog were safe. I entered the aphrtment abonhtwq
hours after it had been opened, and observed, that
the walls and 'evert-, thing, in it were hltickened
that it was filled with a -very disaeeeatile vapreir;
but that nothing excepts, the body exhibited.. any
strung traces of tire.,: ;., • • •i
" This instance has great similarity tO thafr, ;re.
lated by Virg d'Azyr in the Erirytlopedie Metho.
diftrrek tinder - the,head Pathologic Anatomy of Man.
&woman about so years of age, who indulged, to
excess in pititous liquors, and got
.drunk e very
day befOre she. went to bed,- was found entirely.
burnt, and. redeced to,ashes. Some of the osseous,
parts only Were •left, but the fUrniture of the apart.
ment had suffered very little damage.
,Vjcq
d'Azyr, instead of disbelieving this phenomenon,
adds, that there has been many other it:lawn-cis' of
'the like kind.
" We finis also a circumstance of this -kind in a
work entitled. A 4 .ltd er fhilotopbica
niensia, and in the work of .Henry Bohanser, en.
Le Nat tiveau khotphore ,errflummi. A woman
at Paris,. who had been accustomed for three ye.irs
to sifinlc spirit of wine. ;to such a degree that She
oseriltio other liquor, was one
,day foetid .entirely
reduced to ashes, except the skull and the .ext rerni-
ties of the tweets..
et The TransaAimis of the Royal Society of I.en_
don„oreverit:46,o ari, instance of Hutriaoecimbustion"
no less extraordinary. ;Itt was mentiotied at the
time it,haoperted; joornele .I.,tt was then
attested by a great usimber of eye.wttaesses, and.
became, the subjeet of many learned , diosaons.
Thtfee aeCaunts of this event by' dilTe' rent authors,
all nearly coincide. This fad isstlated as follows':
ig t',.;r,ice Pitt, the wife of a fishinonger of the
di of St. Clement, Ipswich,••aged ah:iiit 66, had
contraded an halut, which she Continued friedevetal
years, Of Coming' down' every night from 'heti bed.
room, half.dressed, to smoke a pipe. On ritetuight
of the 9th of. April; 174.4., she 'grit up froditbed,as
usual. Her daughter, 4eho slept-witbher, iid not
perceive she
,Wa's Assent/till next morning wthein-she'
awoke, s'non' after which she:put orrher•clotheis• and
going down into •the kitchen, found her ,mother
stretched nut on the right side, witlithei diead. near.
the' grate ; the body extended ,om the he-atthomith.
thelegs on the floor, which seas Of deali 'having the•
appearance of a log- 'of wood, consumed by :a tire.
without apparent, bait, On. beholding. tliis, spec.
tack, theleirl ran in great haste and ociuted over:
heelmother's body some 'water .contairiedi'in. two
largte veasels, in order toextitigeish the- fivel.i while
thefcetid ;Odour and 'smoke which exhalkii frotn the
body, almost sigma ted-some'of the neighbourirwho
had hastened to the girl's assistance, The trunk
was in some measure incinneiated, arid resembled a
heap of coals eeseereil with vettita'aithes. The head,
the arms,' the legs. and she thighs, had also. partici.
. pater!. in the burning. This woman,. it is said, had
drat+kkbage quantity spiritoui liquor in 4mise-
(pence of being overjoyed to hear that orienf her
d tight ers had returned from Gihraltar.""There Wain()
fire in the grate, and the candle had burnt et irelY
out in the socket of , tie'candlestick, which was'
elnie to her. Pesides,llleFe was found near the con.
sinned y, the clothes.of a child, and a,paper sheen,
which had sustained no -injury by the fire, The.
drrss of this woman consisted of a cottoti.gown.
4-t Le. Cat, in a MetTl.ojr po spontaneous buroing,
mentions several other instances of Comhus(jOrk of
the I lonian, Body. t Having,' says he, P., spent
several months at Rheipit- -in4ll6' years 174 and
17 zs, I budged at the houseof Sieur Millet, whose
wik got intoxicated every day. The doinestic.
economy of the family was managed by a pretty
young which I must not oink to remark, in
order tliati, all the circernstances which accompanied
the fan I am about to relate' may be understood,'
This woman was Jound consumed on; the zoth of
February, 1725.0 at the distance of a foot. and a
half from the hearth in her kitchen. A hart 'of the
head, only, with a, portion of the lower extremities,
and,a,few cit the
,vcootx, 14 escaped bmitbsi:slion;
A , 49pt and a half at the fintiring ender the tiod
had Peen conSuined ; but a ,keeadiog.treughand'a
powdering.jub,'Which were Nctkneat the body, sus:
rained, no tpjury, M. Chriteee, a Surgeon, examined
the r,entain's of the body with ty-crY jedicial formality,
Jean Millet, 'husband; being interrogated ,by. the.,
Judges who, instituted the incieiri into the affair;
;declared; that about eight to the evening.tin the
.roth of February, he had retired to rest with his
who 'riot ie.. ng. ahle to sleep, had gOne,, int&
the kitchgn, where he thought :,he was,wairmink
.herself ; that' having asleep, he ii!iti'Altirakclett
ab6ut two &Clock with an iiifeeiious 'Odour; and •
that having run to the kitcheni, he friuhd tl.e rc.7
'mains of his wife in the stale described in the re-

port 9f the Phyhicians
,and Su'rge9n. The 'llldgea
having 'no suspicinit of -the-real cause'nf tttii-evrot, ,
prniecnied the.airtir with the utmost` diligence.
ftWas very unfortunate for Millet 'that he had a hand.
some-servant.niald ; fur neithetitisitrobityn,ir in.'
nuccticewai able to save him Atom the suspiOion of
having gut tid.of his Wife by a concerted riot, and;
of having arranged the ,test, of the, citc,ltnstanres in,
such I manner. as to, give it hey approance of air
accident., fie experienced, ,therefore,, whole
seventy of the law ; and though by an ,appeal to a
superior and very enlightened court, whichliiscover.

;4 the cause of, the consbuation,,:he paite
-oos,ite sufferttl so much from ,witatfnris of mind,
that.he :was obliged to pass !Ills: remainde; of his
melancholy days in an hospital.'