Show t I SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION Remarkable Cases of Its Occurrence In and KfTcot on Human Bodies Medical literature of this country as well as that of England and continental Europe relates many remarkable instances in-stances of the spontaneous combustion of the human body In all such cases which are the more interesting on account ac-count of their comparative rarity the victim has been a person addicted to the immoderate use of spirituous liquors either as a beverage or in the form of a bath Little by little all the water and other liquids of the body replaced by alcohol and then all that is necessary to cause a atas1rophe is to find some means of applying flame to tho spiritous gases which are escaping from every pore Occasionally the breath of the poor victim is fired while lighting a pipe or a cigar or it may be that aflame a-flame comes in contact with and lights the alcoholic vapors which are escaping from some other portion of the body When once the fire is applied a bluish flame extends very rapidly to all parts of the body leaving it a shapeless mass of charred flesh and calcined bones In many instances attempts have been made to cntinguihh the flames with water wa-ter but always without success When the affected parts of the victim are touched a fatty matter attaches itself to the finger still continuing to burn and giving off a very disagreeable odor something similar to that which arises from burning a mixture of horn hair and wool During all this time a thick black smoke arises from the body and attaches itself to the surface of all objects with which it comes in contact the settlings set-tlings from it being in the form of a sweat unctuous to the touch and of an unbearable fetor In the majority of such cases combustion is only arrested when the flesh has been reduced to cracklings and the bone to powder Vincent in his Curiosities Respecting Mansays Commonly tho feet and portion of the head are not burned but usually when the combustion is finished it is difficult to believn that the incinerated inciner-ated mass is all that is left of a human body St Louis Fcpublio |