Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1855-06-28


ted spirit of avine," after the burden and
bea, Of the day. Why should The flame re-
tire when his friends approached? must
give this up. unless the slcohol used for bath
ing was consumed and nothing was Ief. Ia
support combustion. WHY do we 10. have
well established cases in our midst Of spon-
.sneous combus,ion? Every grade OF The
effects Of alcohol may be found surely
enough 10 cause sufficien, phospbure,ed hy-
drogen for the purpose, if this be the fruits
of in,emperance, inasmuch ss deaths are no.
unfrequen,; but i, canno, be denied .hs, the
Cause Of death and lis mode Of producing il
is too apparent.
Ben Allen has offered two theories to
show ,hs. spontaneous combustion Of the
human body is possible. Without entering
q. presen, into . discussion respecting the
reasnnableness of these theories, il can with
truth be said they weaken each other. II
one is correct The o,ber Is erroneous, be-
cause they are essentially different in their
nature. Either one, and especially the for
mer. would be entitled TO more considera-
lion if not associated with The other.
Respecting The theory frs. offered, viz,
,ha, phosphure.,ed hydrogen results from
the hsbi,uaI use Of arden. spirits, the alco-
hol causing arierisl blood TO parlake Of q
venous character, and The di~inIegraion OF
nervous tissues, setting free phosphorous,
which, no, meeting with sufficient oxygen
to become phosphoric acid. is deposited by
the blood in the solids, mskng them spon-
taneously combuslible. ] say, suppose this
theory is correct, what becomes OF The we'll
established fac. .ha. thosphure.'ed hydro
gen is highly destructive to animal life in
dependen. of lis combuslihle character; aud
We, we have d,unksfds living year after y ear
while constantly using arden. spirits. A.
gain, in consequence Of the combuslibiliy
of the gas in question, it would be hazard
Gus in The exueme to mix it in any qusnl
~ with air or oxygen gas in close vessels.
For The same reason especial care is neces-
ssry in the formation of This gas, les', in
mixing with ,he air Of the spa,a,us, an ex-
pIoslon fnsue and the vessel burst. This
will not be cnn,rovered, because it is con-
sisteni with fixed chemical laws. This then
being the case, when atmospheric cir is be-
ing constantly inhaled and meeting with
impure phosrhorized blood in The lungs,
why does no, an explosion ensue end the
human body be blown to atoms? This,
conceive, would be equally consistent with
chemical fscts, as spontaneous combustion
upon the phosphure,.ed hydrogen theory.
In relation 10 the second theory, viz, tbs,
electricity decomposcs The water Of the hu-
man body and rekindles It's constituents.
oxygen and hydrogen, with sufficient hes,
TO dissips,e the diamond, j, is only necesss-
~ 10 say, whatever be the effects Of elcc.
'rci.y upon water in its pure state, frequen.
experiments Of electrical shocks, which sl-
most every one has witnessed and expert
enced, does no, produce such effects upon
the human body. Every grade Of elec,ri-
cal force has been applied under aImos.
every variety Of circumstance, even 10 the
ex,en, Of scciden,sl death. When death
is caused by lightning, no decomposition
and rekinding Of the constituents Of water
result. But suppose il be granted that elec-
trici,y did produce The stated consequences
it would not be spontaneous, according ,o
Ben Aliens definition of the term. He de-
fines il TO be."combus.ion originating inde-
penden'Iy Of the presence or con.sc. Of ex-
,ernsl flame, one hich ows its existence to
causes operating within and peculiar to the
body itself, separate and dis'ioc. from all
other sources of heat or conditions essential
TO the production Of combustion" Accept
ing this definition, and the examples offered
in the case Of "Sena,or Drayton's Lego and
"Bry done's lady's hair," ! would ask, did
The electrical sparks occu, spontaneously
We are told in each case friction was ap-
piled, consequently they are no, suitable
exsmpIs if we take the literal meaning or
The definition already accepted. If any ex-
,ernal cause, however slight, induces COM
buslion, j! is obvious the. the epi.he. spon-
taneous is not applicable.
BOB SAWYER.
June %, 1856.
M 8 G. E l. l. A N E US.