The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-11-09

ceeding so rapidly that In few minutes
the shelf would have been on fire.
Probably another prolific source of our
forest fires is to be sought In the liability
of decayed wood, not only to spontani-
Gus combustion, but from the direct
rays Of the sun. At Winchester, Conn.
some years since, some workmen about
P. NJ, on August 9th, discovered
smoke arising from barren upland.--
The sun was excessively hot at that
time. When they went to seek the ori-
gin of the smoke, they found that the
remains of an old decayed hemlock log
had burst into blaze and was burning
flercely.
Professor Weissman relates several
well authenticated cases In which bull
bous vessels, hyacinth glasses, wine de-
canters on shelves, by receiving the d.
rect rays Of the sun from an open win
dow, have caused serious confagrations.
In the township of Boscawin, Merrimac
county, N. H., It is related shelf was
set on fire In hotel by means Of pear
shaped decanter containing gin. Any
other transparent liquid would be of
course, equally dangerous If exposed to
the sun.
"That animal bodies are liable to
spontaneous combustion" says Profes-
sor Weissman, " is fact which was
well-known to the ancients. Many cas-
es have been adduced as examples, which
were no doubt merely cases of indivldu-
ais who were highly susceptible to
strong electrical excitation." A certain
gentleman, known to the professor, on
cold, keen winter night, retired to his
chilly sleeping room. He had worn silk
stockings over wooden ones during the
day. On undressing for bed, as he
drew off his silk stockings, he heard
sharp, cracking noise, but paid no spec
ial attention to it. In the morning, in
looking for his silk stockings, he found
them consumed to ashes, without set
ting fire to the chair on which they were
laid. Still more wanderful and awful is
the assurance that the wife of Doctor
Treilas, phycician to the late Archbish-
op of Toledo, Spain, emitted imflamma-
BILE perspiration of such q nature that
when the ribbon she wore was taken
from her and exposed to the cold air, 1t
instantly took fire, and flashed with
sparks of fire like q lively "Roman
Candle" And Prof. Halfmeister, in the
" Berlin Transactions" 1875, records o
case of the same nature respecting a
peasant, whose linen took fire whether
1t was laid up in box, when wet, or
hung in the open air. A case of this
kind recently occurred at the abattoir
in Jersey City. During spell of hot
weather one of the workmen threw off
his blue linen blouse, smoking with
perspiration. 1t was hung up in the
icehouse. In few minutes it burst in
to corruscation of sparks and literally
consumed itself.
One of the most remarkable cases of
spontaneous combustion on record is
that Of the Countess Cornelia Zangari
and Bandi, of Cessena, Italy. This lady
who was In the sixty.second year of her
age, retired to bed in her usual health
Here she spent about three hours in fa-
miliar conversation with her maid, and
in saying her prayers, and having at
last fallen asleep the door of her cham
Der was shut. AS her maid was not
summoned at the usual hour, she went
into the bedroom to wake her mistress,
but receiving no answer she opened the
window and saw her corpse on the floor
in the most dreadful condition. At the
distance of four feet from the bed there
was heap of ashes part of the body
was half burnt, the stockings remain
ing uninjured; most of the body was
reduced to ashes. The air in the room
was charged with floating SCOT (animal
carbon). The bed was not injured
From the examination of all the circum.
stances of the case, it has been general
ly supposed that an internal combustion
had taken place; that the lady had risen
from her bed to cool herself, and that
on the way to open the window, the
combustion had overpowered her and
consumed her body by a process in
which no flame was produced which
could ignite the furniture on the floor.
/