Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1855-07-12

'sneous according to Ben Aliens definition
Of The term," sn6 endesvors to trace On in
consistency by sskinQ, "did the electric
'psrk, 10 The case Of Drayton end Brydo.
pies lsdy's hair, occur spontaneously ~
Certainly not, and equally certain i, 10 ,hsI
did not make reference TO them - in.
chances Of spontaneous combustion, bu. only
TO show 10 what On extent the electricity oil
the body may be augmented. Granting that
electricity may become . cause Of combus-
tion in The body, il would. repeat, be
spontaneous in stric, accordance with The
definition. |, would be "peculisr TO the
body" in which it occurred, and "separsie
and distinct from oil other sources Of com
bus,ion" in that body capable Of inAsming il.
Having considered the several objections
urged sgsins, the existence Of spontaneous
combustion by Bob S'wyer, propose brief
" TO notice some Of the recorded cases Of
the phenomenon in question, for the pur-
pose Of elucids,ing the Consistent harmony
in the sutjee, before Us, Of theory md facts.
We therefore join issue on facts.
There are some for,y-eight cases on re-
cord. and Of these, for The wan. Of space, J
shsll selee. bu, two, and shall give The in
stance Of the Countess Of Cesins in foil,
since this he's been referred TO by Bob Saw
yer. and certain material parts KEEP, in the
back ground, whilst other portions, abstract
2y considered, seem to suit his purpose. II
will be proper before proceeding further, to
say something concerning the circumstances
which precede, attend and distinguish this
peculiar end singular accident Spon,ane-
Gus combustion seems usually to befall per-
zone advanced in life and Of feeble cons.itu-
ton, with inactive bsbiis, tendency 10 cor
PUlency, end addicted to. the excessive use Of
alcoholic liquors. The combustion spreads
rapidly, the body being decomposed 10 On
unusually short time, the fsme is Of blue
color, and is with difficulty ex,inguished by
water, and not readily communicable to
combnstible bodies around. II will thus be
perceived The. this phenomenon possesses
mos, marked end definite distinction from
that Of ordinary combustion. The follow
ing case Of the Countess Of Cessna was
communicated to the British Royal Society
by Or. Mortimer, 1745 :-"Cornelis Bandi,
Cosntess of CesIns, sixiy-two years OF
sge, having fel. drowsy one evening, retired
earlier ihsn usual to bed, and was attended
BY her maid until she fell asleep. When
the girl on the following morning entered
her mistress apartment for the purpose Of
awakening her, dreadful spectacle presen-
ted itself. AT distance OF four fee. from
The bed there was heep Of ashes, in which
she head, legs end arms Of The Countess a.
lone could be traced. The head Icy near
che legs, but the half Of it's posierior part,
together with the brain and chin, was en-
,irely consumed. The legs and arms were
uninjured. The ashes which alone remain
ed Of The rest Of The body, when touched.
left upon the fingers q greesy, fe'id mois-
'ure, end Q soo,y matter was deposited upon
the furniture and tapestry, and had even
penetrated into some drawers end soiled the
linen they contsined. There was no unus-
aal arrangement, Of the bed, the bed clothes
being merely thrown aside as when q per-
son gets up. The wsx Of two candles placed
upon q table near the bed was melted, bu,
the wicks remained unconsumed. ]! is de.
serving Of remark .ha. it wss the constant
Practice Of this lady to bs,he her body with
esmphurs,ed spirits of wine" The cir
cums,snces connected with The case just ci
ted are clearly such ss cannot be explained
by reference to ordinary combus,ion.-
When We reflect tha, the body was reduced
10 . hesp Of sshee, 18th The exception Of
small portion; .hs. the combustion, which
must have been Of very intense degree,
did mol communicate to the floor and objects
in it's vicinity Of fer more infamsble ma
body in its normal state is exceedingly dif-
6cul. Of combustion, requiring a very lsrge
smoun. Of fuel 10 effec, il, !; tina, in The case
before Us there was an absence Of such fuel;
that 60 complete destruction Of The animal
body BY ordinary combustion is altogether
unusual, and in fact, may soy, impossible,
unless under conditions OF hes. far too ex-
slted 10 sdmi, Of The idea of its not commu.
nics,ing 10 other bodies around, Of moro
combus.ible nature that the period Of time
in which the body was reduced 10 ashes,
for the contamination Of such a process :;
that the bed near which The body lay was
not fred by so intense . degree of heat, We
ere forced 10 the enevi,sble conclusion tina,
the case before US could not have been one
Of ordinary combustion, or If such, tina. 10
this instance its behavior was entirely Of
variance with tho uniform, end, SO far as
known, invstiable manifestations Of common
combustion, and for The adoption Of which
there is not an iota Of reason, bu. on The con-
nsry reasons insuperab!s against its recep.
zion. Bob Sawyer laysgreat stress on the fac,
that The Countess wss in The habit of bathing
her body with csmphura.ed spirit Of wine,
end strives at the very strange and illogical
conclusion that The complete combustion Of
the body can be satisfactorily accounted 70,
on the supposi.jon the, the igni,ed spi1i,
set Gre to her garments on her body willis.
in . sisie Of into xica,ion. But il 10 obvi-