Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1828-09-15

.xnIan,,;on satisfactory. He POUNDS his oPin-
ion, LIST. On the circumstances that tnere 10 w
nroor IF This alleged sa.uraiion Of the organs
in p.rsons addicated TO the use of spirits, 2diy,
On the circumstances iha. this saturation itseii
would not suffice to render the body comous'i-
bie.-and. to demontrate this assertion, he gives
the result Of several experiments, IN when ne
in vain tried to render ox-fesh intlamma9ie ~
sleeping it for several months IN brandy anu
even in alcohol and ether.
Another explanation has been proposed. Dr.
Marc, and with him several other physicians
from the DEVELOPMENT oi>hydrogen gas, which
takes takes place in gracter or less quah,'y
in the intes,ines, have been led TO imagine 'ha'
similar development may take place I'D o'ner
parts Of the body, and that the gas might take
FIRE on the approach oil burning hody,or oy
an electrical action produced by the electric
fluid, which might be developed in the indivl-
duals thus burnt According to this theory,
NJ. NJ. Lecat, Kopp, and Marc, suppose, in sub
iects affected by spontaneous combustion, l.:
An idio,electric STATE; 2 The development OF
hydrogen gas; S. lt' accumulation III Inc ee'
lular tissue.
This latter explanation would appear 10 be
confirmed by a very Gu ious observation 81 NJ
Bailly's. That physician, on opening, IN the
presence of twenty pupils, dead body, over
the whole Of which there was an emphysema,
which was greater in IT," lower extreml'ies
than any where else, remarked, that, whenever
longitudinal incsion was made, gas escap'
ed, which burned with blue fame. The pune
ture Of the abdomen yielded stream Of il more
than six inches high VIVA, was very remark
able, was, that the gases contained in the mites
tines, so far from increasing the fame, exiin-
guished 1t.
NJ. lula Fon,enele, for reasons similar to
those which induced him to reject the first
hypothesis, is Of opinion that the presence OF
hydrogen gas cannot be admitted as the cause
Of spontaneous combustion. Tie Pounds this
opinion more particularly upon experiments in
which he in vain tried 10 render very thin Sill
ces Of flesh combustible, keeping them tor 8
days immersed in pure hydrogen Gas, in per-
carburetcd hydrogen gas, and in oxygen gas
Lastly, he considers the opinion equally UNI
tenable, that spontaneous combustion OF the
human body is owing to combination OF an
nlmal matter with the oxygen OF the air, what
ever may be the alterations which this matter
may undergo: |. Because sufficien: tempe
nature is not developers Q Because, admitting
this combustion as real, the residuum would be
charcoal, which could only be incinerated at
red heat, while, on the contrary, there is moth
..
Of s2ontane Gus combustion Of the human body
is an unctious substance, which the combustion
Of animal substances never yields: Because 1t
scarcely yields any ammoniaca al products, while
such are Away, produced by animal combus-
ton.
After thus rejecting all the hypothesis h til
erto proposed, NJ. Julia Fontenclle concluL
tha, this phenomena is the result, Of an interna
az, ie alt thar dc den
Of The influence az aS'A-~-i -u--.-' W. s'"'
his own words:
1--WE consider" says he, "what ave Gale
spontaneous conclusions oil the human body,
not as true combustions, but as intimate and
spontaneous reactions, which depend upon new
products originating from a degeneration Of
the muscles, ttnduns. visccra, sc. These pro-
ducts. on uniting, p esent the same phenomena
as combustion without losing any oil the infu'
ence Of external agents, whether by admitting
the effect Of the opposite eectricities OF Berze>
Illus, or ov adducing in exsmplr the iEHamma>
ton Of hydrogen, by us contact with chlorine,
arsenic, or pul"eri lied ant,mony, projected into
this latter gas, sc.
1t may be objected, however, that whatever
may be the cause which induces this combus-
lion, the caloric disengaged ough: to be consi-
derable, and consequently should ignite all the
OBJECTS IN the nelSnoof'ooo. "erepy W '"'S'
that all combus,ibe substances do not by any
means disengage an equal quantity OF calo'ic
by combustion. .Davy has shewn, that metal
lie gauze, having l6o holes in the square inch,
and made Of wire one -sixieth Of an inch in di-
ameter, is penetrated at the ordinary empera-
turs by the fame of hydrogen gas, while it is
inrermcable 10 that of alcohol, unless ,he gauzs
be very much heated. According to The same
chemist, gauge Of his kind, raised TO red heat,
allows the fame Of hydrogen gas to pass thro'
it, "i,hon, being 2ermeable 10 Percarbufet.ed
hydrogen sas l, is probable from this, that
The products arising from the degeneration of
the body, may be very combustibie, withou',
however, dise"gaging as much caloric as the
other Combus,ible bodies known, and witt out
leaving residuum as the two latter gases;
and. in fine, we are of opinion, that, in some
subjects, and chiefly in women, there exis,sa
particular dia,hesis. which, conjoined with tae
as,henia occasioned by age, life Of little ac,i-
witty and the abuse of spiriluous liquors, may
give rise to a spontaneous combustion. But
we are far from considering as the material
cause Of this combustion, either alcohol or hy-