Barbour County index., 1910-11-09

an emanation that is highly phosphor
escent, causing the phenomenon term
ed "will-o'the-wisp," or "elf fire." It
is not reasonable to suppose that
there is some relation, in respect to
cause, between the will-o'-the-wisp
| (Which occasionally misleads unfor-
tunate travellers into boggy places)
and the corpse candles said to be
often seen moving about in the mys-
terious and awesome darkness Of
cemeteries? The "sheeted dead" are
| alleged to carry these candles in their
ghostly hands when they walk about
among the graves at night.
The skeleton of an adult human
being contains about four pounds of
the metal calcium. This, In fact, Is
the most abundant metallic element
of the body structure. In the fluids
Of the body, also, there is a good deal
of it. But calcium and phosphorus,
when combined, form a self-ignitable
substance. Indeed, water will set it
on fire. If a bit of phosphide of cal
cium be dropped into saucer of wa
ter, 1t will instantly burst into fame,
on which account. in the laboratory,
to protect it from dampness, it has
to be kept in an air-tight jar
Three other self-ignitable SUBJ
! stances, all of them metals, are con-
tanned in the human body. One Of
these (about two ounces in quantity
is the silvery-white magnesium-of fa-
miliar use for fashlight purposes by
photographers. The other two are
sodium and potassium-rather more
than five ounces Of each. A piece Of
the former, if thrown into water,
bursts into rosy fame, and swims
about violently on the surface until
burned out The latter is likewise set
| af1re by contact with water, on touch
ing which it explodes like fireworks.
throwing shower of sparks into the
air. AS for magnesium, it is so fierce
ly combustible that it has to be kept
tightly corked in glass bottles, to pre-
vent it from igniting.
Thus is appears that the human
body contains, in considerable uuanti.
ties, quite a number of substances
which are self-ignitable, and fierceIy
| so, on coming into contact with water.
The marvel is that we refrain from
going off by spontaneous combustion.
so to speak, while we are alive. When
| burned, these substances, of course.
convert themselves into gases, which
are luminous. Under favoring grave
yard conditions (the processes of de-
cay going on very gradually, they
pass off slowly, by evaporation. and
not in any such way as that above de-
scribed. They present themselves to
the view, in darkness, as mere chem
lcai emanations-luminescent, blown
about by light airs, or dissipated en-
tlrely for the moment by a passing
gust of wind. In all probability they
consist mainly of phosphorus.
One cannot capture a ghost of this
Kind. 1t cannot be trapped in a box
or bottle and conveyed to a scientific
laboratory for examination or analy-
Sis. Hence it is likely that the true
composition of phantoms will forever
remain as much a mystery as it is to-
day But (supposing the. theory here
set forth to be correct) 1t is a. comfort
10 KNOW, In a general way, what grave.
yard spectres are made of.
| When people are murdered. and
their bodies (as often hapens) ara
buried In cellars or other damp places.
their ghosts, for the chemical reasons
already given, are particularly likely
to walk So says Prof. Charles e.
Munroe, a famous chemist, and dean
OF the George Washington university
who even goes so far as to declare
that ne could at pinch produce in
his laboratory phantoms in all inn.
portant respects corresponding to
those which graveyards ara popularly
supposed to manufactures