The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1881-09-23
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION.
Human Beings Consume by the Gases Q
Their own Bodies.

Spontaneous combustion of the hu
man body has been, and still is. as much
a aquestion of affirmation and negatio1
as that of the existence of persons Of
double sex, but in poring over some an,
cient and modern medical works, com.
piled by physicians of high standing
and undoubted veracity, the writer has
found so many well authenticated cases
of spontaneous combustion, that he has
selected few to present TO the readers
of the Enquirer.
As to the cause of this remarkable
phenomenon, various opinions have
been promulgated. A large number OF
medical authorities suppose that there
isAn alcoholic impregnation Of the body,
and that the actual contact of fire is
necessary to produce it. To this it is
replied that in certain cases that have
occurred, there is no proof of such a
saturation of the tissues, and if it were
so it would not render the body COM
bustible. Others refer the combustion
to the agency Of the electric fluid. This
theory supposes that infiammable gases
may accumulate in the cellular tissue,
and in a system charged with idio-elec-
tricity the slightest inhammable sub
stance may commence the combustion
The gas is Said to be hydrogen and its
compounds, and this explains why water
often fails, to extinguish fire, and also
why combu8tible substances contiguous
are so seldom injured, the heat required
for and produced by its combustion be-
ing low, 1t is indeed singular that in
all the known cases ofspontaneous COM
bustion the fire has not caught sur
rounding objects, but has ceased with
the victim of internal confagration.
Fontenells, a celebrated writer on this
subject, afirms his belief that it is
owing to an internal decomposition and
the formation of new products which
are highly infammable, such as phos-
phurate hydrogen. A dissection by DR..
Aally is coToborative of this opinion.
He attended case of typhus, and after
death gas was found in large quantities
in the body. This gas, from whatever
part it was extricated ny puncture took
fire on bringing a lighted candle to it,
nd burned with blue flame. The ex-
istence of oil in the serum Of the blood
of intemperate people is also supposed
to conduce to the combustibility of the
system. Most of the individuals hust
consumed had for a long time made an
immoderate use of spirituous liquors.
They were either very fat or very lean.
The combustion occurred accidentally,
and often from slight cause, such as a
candle, coal, or even a spark. 1t pro-
ceeds in most cases with great rapidity,
usually consuming the entire trunk,
while the extremities, as the feet and
the hands were occasionally left unin-
jured. Water, instead of extinguishing
the flames which proceed from the parts
on fire, sometimes gave them more ac-
tivity. The combustion of the bodies
left as residuum, fat, fetid ashes, with
an unctuous and very penetrating SCOT.
The combustions have occurred at all
seasons, the most frequently in winter,
and in northern as well as in southern
countries.
The most widely known case of spon-
taneous combustion is that of the Count
ess Cornelia Bandi, of Cesena, Italy.
She was aged sixty-two and in good
health at the time of her singular and
unexpected death. She was in the habit
of bathing in camphorated spirits of
wine. One evening she felt drowsy,
and her maid remained with her until
she fell asleep in bed. The next morn
ing when the girl came to call her she
found nothing but tie remains of her
body in a most horrible condition. At
the distance of four feet from the bed
was heap of ashes, in which the arms
and legs were almost untouched. Be-
tween the legs lay the head. The brain,
together with the posterior part of the
Uranium and the whole chin had been
consumed. Three fingers were found
in q state of coal, and the body was re-
duced to ashes, which, when touched,
left on the fingers fat, fetid moisture.
A small lamp which stood on the floor
was covered with ashes, but contained
no oil. The tallow of two candles was
melted on a table, but the wick still re-
NAMED, and the feet Of the candlesticks
were covered with moisture. The bed
was not deranged. The bedclothes were
raised up and thrown on one side, as is
the case whom person gets up. The
furniture and tapestry were covered with
moist kind of soot the color of ashes,
which had even penetrated into closed
drawers and soiled the linen they con-
tanned. No noise occurred in the night,
and the combustion must have been
very rapid The case occurred in 1868.
Bertholi, a priest, lived in Italy in
1776. He Travelled about the country,
and one evening arrived at the house of
his brother-in-law. He desired to be
Immediately shown to his room, and