on the physical and chemical laws which regulate inanimate bodies. Το must banish all explanations founded exclusively the dissection of several gin-drinkers of both sexes, in whom no alcoholic odor, but inflammation of the stomach, could be detected. No weight, in fine, can be allowed to the resemblance of the flame, in human combustions, to that of burning alcohol, since it is common also to other inflammable substances, as hydrogen gas, and its combinations with carbon and sulphur. these objections, may be added the fact, that intemperance cannot be imputed to all those persons, without exception, who have perished from spontaneous combustion. As to the state of corpulence or emaciation, it will be invariably found that the fat of the body is never sufficiently deprived of its aqueous part, and the wasting never sufficiently decided, to admit the supposition of a degree of dryness favorable to rapid conflagration. From the observations already on record, it appears, that almost all the victims of spontaneous combustion were addicted to the use of strong spirits. Hence, it has been concluded, that the different parts of the bodies of such persons had undergone an alcoholic impregnation, and thus contracted a degree of combustibility sufficient to render them easily inflammable. This opinion seems, at first sight, to be supported by the dissection of persons who have died of intoxication, and whose bodies gave out a spirituous odor. It has been remarked, also, that the flame in these combustions exactly resembles burning spirits; that the individuals to whom this accident happens, were commonly very fat or very thin; and that, in the former case, the fat supports the flame, while in the latter, combustion is supported by the deficiency of moisture. But, on the other hand, can we, in sound physiology, admit the assimilation of any given substance, without its first undergoing certain changes? Vitality, or the living principle, destroys some combinations, and forms others. This faculty may, indeed, be modified by disease; yet it never entirely ceases but with life. We may even regard, as characteristic of vital action, the power it possesses of forming bodies more complicated than the products of inorganic nature. By this action are frequently modified the substances which come to it from the external world; and it then produces bodies, regarded by chemists as incapable of decomposition. Calcareous earth has been obtained from cones of pine growing upon a barren sand, which contained not one atom of that substance; and vegetables yield earthy constituents which form no part of the soil that gives them nourishment. Certain substances, nevertheless, preserve some of their properties after being assimilated, such as color and odor. Madder, when taken into the stomach, reddens the bones; log-wood communicates to the urine a red, and rhubarb a yellow tinge. Agaric, with which the natives of Kamtschatka intoxicate themselves, imparts its inebriating quality to their urine; nd, by frictions with garlic, the breath is impregnated with the smell of this vegetable. But, it may be asked, are these substances really in the same state of combination, wherein they existed previously to their being submitted to digestion or absorption? Even on the supposition that alcohol might traverse the animated body, as it soaks a sponge, would not its extreme affinity for water oppose an insurmountable obstacle to its combustion? Do not, moreover, the inflammable eructations sometimes observed in gin-drinkers, show that the spirituous liquor has already undergone some modification in the stomach; since the vapor of ardent spirits is not susceptible of taking fire by simple contact with the atmosphere. Anatomical inspection of dead bodies does not afford inferences more conclusive, provided the gin, taken abundantly a short time before death, has not penetrated their structure, when that structure could no longer offer any vital resistance to its progress. This last supposition is confirmed by VOL. VI. When the different cases of spontaneous human combustion have been classified, for the purpose of deducing general conditions from them, it will be found, 1. That women are much more subject to it than men; now, it is evident, that the skin and cellular membrane of females are more tender and lax than those of man, and that women are more disposed to corpulence. 2. That spontaneous combustion has commonly occurred in aged persons, almost all those who have perished from it being past their sixtieth year. 3. That, independently of the state of debility proper to such age, these persons had suffered from particular debilitating affections, 4. That their debility must still further have been augmented by the circumstances of an inactive life. 5. That many among them were corpulent; now, corpulence, at an advanced age, almost invariably implies a relaxed state, particularly of the system called lymphatic; hence dropsy and constitutional infirmity are very common in such persons. 6. That the greater number of the victims of spontaneous combustion, were addicted to the use of ardent spirits, 7. That, near the place of the catastrophe, has almost constantly been found an ignited body of some kind, however small, as a lamp, or burning coals. 8. That the conflagration has been exceedingly rapid, and gained every part of the body ere succour could arrive. 9. That the flame was very light and unsteady, difficult of extinction by water; and only attacked the combustible substances around, when remaining for a considerable time in contact with them. 10. That the place where the combustion happened, exhaled a strong empyreumatic odor; and that the walls, ashes, and cinders, were covered with a fœtid moisture and with fat. 11. That the trunk of the body, with the exception of a few bones, was commonly consumed; and that there remained, in most cases, a portion of the head and extremities, more or less considerable: and, 12, That, in the majority of these instances, the accident has taken place at a low temperature cf the atmosphere, consequently in winter. For a correct explanation of the singular appearances now under consideration, it will be necessary, first of all, to distinguish the combustibility from the combustion itself, or, in other words, the cause exciting it. The combustibility of the human body becomes here, as we may R of air taking fire upon its extrication from the stomach, and baffling all the ordinary means of extinction. In such cases, the decomposition of alcohol, and of animal substance contained in the stomach, has generated a quantity of phosphureted hydrogen, which instantly inflames upon contact with atmospheric air. This process, however, extends no farther; because the other parts of the body do not possess the conditions requisite for a more general conflagration. suppose, a peculiar condition; since, in the atmosphere. Some years since, an accident of healthy state, it ranks in the class of substances this kind befel a Bohemian peasant: he died in most difficultly combustible. This combustibility, the presence of many witnesses, from a column then, is determined by the debility consequent upon age, diseases, bodily inactivity, and intemperance. The abuse of strong liquors, especially gin, debilitates the absorbent system in a signal degree; and this state may give rise, in certain cases, to the formation of a mass of substance, alike inflammable and susceptible of accumulating, in greater or less quantity, in different parts of the body, according to their different structure. The combustible substance ought, therefore, to possess the property of penetrating easily into the interstices of the body, and of losing nothing of its combustibility by contact with liquids. These conditions are, in no class of substances, better combined than in the inflammable gases; nor, independently of them, can the fact now claiming attention, be well explained. It is necessary, therefore, for the production of the spontaneous combustion, that an inflammable gas accumulate in the cells of the cellular membrane, as the fluid of dropsy is accumulated; and, without admitting the preexistence of the whole quantity of gas requisite for the completion of the process, it may reasonably be supposed that it terminates in giving rise to a fresh extrication of gas from those parts of the burning body surcharged with hydrogen. By this theory is obviated the objection which the absence of a previously emphysematous state in the victims of spontaneous combustion has suggested; with some among them, however, this state seems really to have existed. Hydrogen constitutes one of the principal elements of the animal body, and combinations the most various are there formed by it with caloric, carbon, sulphur, and phosphorus: after death, as in life, its presence is unequivocally detected. It may be useful, in this place, to review the different phenomena which, in demonstrating that truth, connect it most intimately with the subject of spontaneous human combustion. A fame was observed to issue from the skin of a pig, at the moment of its being cut into with a knife; and two eminent anatomists saw a vapor exhaling from the stomach of a woman whom they had just opened: it took fire on the approach of a lighted candle. A similar fact also occurred in examining the stomach of another female, who, in the four days preceding her death, had taken no food. In some other cases, the gas inflamed without the intervention of any ignited body, merely by contact with the atmosphere. On the opening of an ox, which had been for some time sick, an explosion took place, and flame bursting from the stomach, to the height of more than five feet, scorched the butcher, as well as a little girl who stood beside him. It lasted several minutes, and gave out a most disgusting odor. The production of hydrogen gas, during life, cannot be doubted. It is known to be daily extricated in the bowels, and observations analagous to these just enumerated are by no means rare. Inflammable eruc tations frequently occur, particularly in northern regions, where persons, after an immoderate indulgence in gin, have been exposed to a cold Since, then, we cannot deny that the inflammable gases are developed in the human body, it cannot surely be going too far to admit their occasional accumulation in the cellular structure, in quantity proportioned to the laxity of that structure. Hence, it happens that the softest parts, and consequently the trunk, are most subject to these gaseous accumulations. But the human body, thus rendered highly combustible, cannot yet take fire without the intervention of an inflaming spark; for, even admitting that part of the inflammable principle consists of phosphureted hydrogen gas, we are unable to explain adequately, and in all cases, the general conflagration which ensues. By some, the presence of ignited bodies has been considered as the cause of this catastrophe; and others even assert that, strictly speaking, what really originates in acci dent, cannot be called spontaneous combustion. We are unable, however, from this view of the subject, to conceive how the burning should be so rapid, general, and complete, as it commonly is; and still less, on what part of the body it is first manifested. Instances of human combustion, moreover, have occurred, in which the presence of no ignited body could be suspected. In comparing these various considerations, with the fatal accident detailed in the subsequent history, the mind is led to regard electricity as exerting considerable influence in human combustion, or even as the occasional cause of this extraordinary phenomenon. No one can doubt, for a moment, the ideoelectricity of many animals; and this state exists, in a very remarkable degree, with many individuals of the human species. Experiments were made, during a severe frost, upon a woman whose ideo-electricity was such, that sparks issued from her hair as often as it was combed: a Leyden phial was even charged, and alcohol inflamed, with these sparks. Sparks of electricity, indeed, have often been emitted from stockings of wool and silk, when being taken off the limbs: examples of this kind might be multiplied to an indefinite extent. Inflammable substances, accumulated in the bodies of those who have perished from spontaneous combustion, must, by their nature, increase the electric state. Warmth will equally favor the explosion of the inflaming sparks. Thus, the proximity of fire or a lighted candle may, in some instances, have aided the process of human combustion: in others, the same effect may have been produced by violent exercise or other causes capable of exciting electricity. The electric spark, thus developed, tra verses with extreme rapidity, bodies in any way impregnated with inflammable matter; and the atter, taking fire upon every point, can no longer be quenched by the fluid parts. Thus, the Durning usually proceeds with such celerity, that the miserable victim has no time to call for assistance. The flame, as is proved by observation, at first spreads upon the surface of the body; because there, in contact with the air of the atmosphere, it is fitted to support combustion: it is subsequently propagated to the more deepseated parts. This theory will explain, without difficulty, the following circumstances already alluded to, and which we again detail with their reasons. I. Women are more subject than men to spontaneous combustion, because their more relaxed structure is favorable to gaseous accumulations. II. Spontaneous combustion most frequently takes place in aged persons; because such are more addicted than the young to the use of ardent spirits; they employ less exercise; and their vital energy, particularly that of the lymphatic system, is weaker. III. The characters of the flame, its lightness, mobility, and resistance to the action of water, are those of hydrogen gas. The natural phenomena in the production of which this gas enjoys a principal share, as ignes fatui and certain meteors, exhibit similar appearances. IV. The furniture and other surrounding ocjects are, on these occasions, little damaged; because hydrogen gas, in combustion, implicates the generality of combustible bodies, only when remaining in intimate contact with them. V. The moisture which invariably covers the walls where the conflagration takes place, as well as the charred relics of the body, is furnished by the combustion of the hydrogen gas, and also by the evaporation of the liquids of the body itself. The oily appearance of it arises from the fat which the heat has fused; and the fœtid odor proceeds from the empyreumatic oil. VI. The trunk of the body has always suffered more from this kind of combustion than other parts; this circumstance is explained by the size of its cavities, and the looseness of their cellular structure: and, VII. Winter is the season in which spontaneous human combustion most frequently occurs; because the cold air, which is a bad conductor of electricity, favors the ideo-electric state of the animal body. This view of its nature is founded on inductions afforded by many (more than 100) well authenticated histories of spontaneous human combustion, recorded by diligent and faithful observers, in very different eras and countries. There would be little propriety, however, in swelling the present article by unnecessary extracts from these: yet there is one which possesses extraordinary interest, as the subject of it, having survived the accident for a time, was enabled to give an account of the various circumstances by which it was preceded and followed. The case was published in one of the Journals of Florence, for October, 1776, by Mr. Battaglia, the surgeon who attended the unfortunate sufferer. It is related nearly in the following terms : "Gio Maria Bertholi, resiuent priest at Monte Volere, went on business to a neighbouring fair; and, having spent the day in walking about the country, arrived in the evening at Femile, intending to sleep at the house of his brother-inlaw. Immediately on his arrival, he was conducted to his chamber at his own request, when he had a handkerchief placed between his shirt and shoulders; and, being now left alone, he betook himself to his devotions. Scarcely had a few minutes elapsed, when an uncommon noise, mingled with cries, was heard issuing from his apartment. The people of the house were alarmed; and rushing in, found the priest stretched upon the floor, and surrounded by a light flame, which receded as they approached, and ultimately vanished. He was instantly placed in bed, and on the following morning visited by the surgeon, who, on examination, found the skin of the right arm and fore-arm detached from the muscles, and hanging loose. From the shoulders to the thighs, the integuments were similarly injured. These detached portions of skin having been altogether removed; and, mortification being perceived on the right hand, which had suffered most severely, the parts were scarified. Notwithstanding this precaution, it had fallen by the next day into a state of complete gangrene. On the third day, all the other scorched parts were discovered to have degenerated into the same condition. The unhappy man complained of unquenchable thirst, and was horribly convulsed. The discharges from his bowels were putrid and bilious, and his strength was exhausted by continual vomitings, accompanied with delirium, and a burning fever. lying two hours in a state of insensibility, he expired on the fourth day. While he lay in this lethargic sleep, his attendant observed, with astonishment, that putrefaction had made considerable progress, so that the body exhaled an intolerable odor: worms crawled from it on the bed, and the nails were spontaneously detached from the fingers of the left hand. After "This unfortunate man informed the surgeon that first of all he had felt a blow, like that inflicted by a cudgel, upon the right arm; and that, at the same moment, he saw a light blue flame attach itself to his shirt, which was instantaneously reduced to ashes; yet his wrist-bands, at the same time, remained utterly untouched. The handkerchief, which, as formerly mentioned, had been introduced between his shoulders and shirt, was entire and free from every trace of burning. His drawers and breeches had equally escaped; but his cap was entirely consumed, although not a hair of his head had suffered from the flame. That this flame, says Mr. Battaglia, dispersed under the form of elementary fire, had destroyed the skin, and reduced the shirt and cap to ashes, without implicating the hair of the head, is a fact which I most confidently assert. Moreover, all the symptoms of the disease were those of a severe burn. The night of the accident was calm; the atmosphere very clear; no empyreumatic or bituminous smell; no appearance of smoke was perceived in the chamber; but the lamp, before full of oil, was become dry, and its wick reduced to a cinder. Such is the outline of this very singular history, the chief incidents of which seem quite irreconcilable with the pre-conceived views of mankind. By minds peculiarly constructed, or habituated to peculiar modes of reflecting, it will consequently be regarded as needing a more than ordinary degree of testimony for its support. But it ought to be remembered that we have no more pre-conceived cause for doubting or believing the spontaneous combustion of the materials composing the human body, than of any other substances, simple or compound, in the material world around us. The reality of its occurrence, therefore, must be determined by the evidence of facts alone, and not by pre-conceived views: this, as well as all cases of the same kind have, with some minute shades of difference, been attended with the same characteristic appearances, a fact which, independently of all other testimony, should be admitted as affording internal evidence of their authenticity. COME, v. n., pret. came; participle, come. Sax. coman; Dutch, comen; German kommen. Opposed to go, to remove from a distant to a near place; to draw near, to advance towards, to move in any manner towards another; implying the idea of being received by another, or of tending towards another. The word always respects the place to which the motion tends, not that place which it leaves; yet this meaning is sometimes almost evanescent and imperceptible. To advance from one stage or condition to another. After giving no fewer than sixty varieties of meaning or applications of this word, Dr. Johnson remarks:-Come is a word of which the use is various and extensive, but the radical signification of tendency hitherward is uniformly preserved. When we say he came from a place, the idea is that of returning, or arriving, or becoming nearer; when we say, he went from a place, we conceive simply departure, or removal to a greater distance. The butter comes; it is passing from its former state to that which is desired; it is advancing towards us. As far as each of these varieties is distinct and definite, we So came I a widow; And never shall have length of life enough To rain upon remembrance with mine eyes. Shakspeare. Henry IV. When he returns from hunting, I will not speak with him; say I am sick. If you come slack of former services, You shall do well. Id. King Lear. How came the publican justified, but by a short and humble prayer? Duppa's Rules for Devotion. To arrive at some act, or habit, or disposition. They would quickly come to have a natural abhorrence for that which they found made them slighted. Locke. To become present, and no longer future. But home he goth, he mighte not sojourne, The day wos come that homeward he must turne. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Learn to be well, or fairly make your will, You've played, and loved, and ate and drank your fill, Walk sober off before a sprightlier age Fixed passion holds his breath, until the hour To punish or forgive-in one we shall be slower. Byron's Childe Harold. To become present, and no longer absent. Come then, come soone, come sweetest death to me, And take away this long-lent loathed light: now present them in their proper order, with the Sharpe be thy wounds, but sweete the medicines be illustrations annexed: That long captived souls, from weary thraldom free. Spenser. Come after them, for haply in my bower, Amusement, knowledge, wisdom, thou may'st gain, If I one soul improve, I have not lived in vain. Beattie. Id. Those that are akin to the king, Job xiii. 13. never prick their It is reported, that if you lay good store of kernels fingers but they say, there is some of the ring's blood spilt. How comes that? says he, that takes upon him not to conceive; the answer is, I am the king's poor cousin, Sir. Shakspeare. Henry IV. To come about. To come to pass; to fall out; to come into being. Probably from the French venir a bout. And let me speak to the yet unknowing world, how these things came about. Shakspeare. That cherubim, which now appears as a God to the human soul, knows very well that the period will come about in eternity, when the human soul shall be as perfect as he himself now is. Addison's Spectator. to come round. To come about. To change; The wind came about, and settled in the west for Bacon's New Atlantis. many days. On better thoughts, and my urged reasons, They are come about, and won to the true side. To come again. To return. Ben Jonson. One who had in their rear excluded been, And could not for a taste o' th' flesh come in, Licks the solid earth. The rest came in for subsidies, whereof they sunk considerable sums. Swift. To come in to. To join with; to bring help. They marched to Wells, where the lord Audley There came water thereout; and when he had with whom their leaders had before secret intellidrunk, his spirit came again, and he revived. gence, came in to them; and was by them, with great gladness and cries of joy, accepted as their general. Bacon's Henry VII. Judges, xv. 19. To come after. To follow. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. Matthew, xvi. 24. To come at. To reach; to get within the reach of; to obtain; to gain. Neither sword nor sceptre can come at conscience; but it is above and beyond the reach of both. Suckling. Cats will eat and destroy your marum, if they can come at it. Evelyn's Kalendar. In order to come at at a true knowledge of ourselves, we should consider how far we may deserve praise. Addison. To come by. To obtain; to gain; to acquire. This seems an irregular and improper use, but has very powerful authorities. Things most needful to preserve this life, are most prompt and easy for all living creatures to come by. Love is like a child, Hooker. That longs for every thing that he can come by. To come in. To comply; to yield; to hold out no longer. If the arch-rebel Tyrone, in the time of these wars, should offer to come in and submit himself to her majesty, would you not have him received? Spenser on Ireland. To come in. To become modish; to be brought into use. Then came rich cloaths and graceful action in, Then instruments were taught more moving notes. Roscommon. Silken garments did not come in till late, and the use of them in men was often restrained by law. Arbuthnot on Coins. To come in. To be an ingredient; to make part of a composition. A generous contempt of that in which too many men place their happiness, must come in to heighten his charaeter. Atterbury, To come in. To accrue from an estate, trade, or otherwise, as gain. I had rather be mad with him that when he had nothing, thought all the ships that came into the harbour his; than with you that, when you have so much coming in, think you have nothing. Suckling. To come into. To comply with; to agree to. The fame of their virtues will make men ready to come into every thing that is done for the public good. Atterbury. To come near. To approach; to resemble in excellence; a metaphor from races. Whom you cannot equal or come near in doing, you would destroy or ruin with evil speaking. Ben Jonson's Discoveries. To come of. To proceed, as a descendant from ancestors. Of Priam's royal race my mother came. Dryden's Eneid. Self-love is se natural an infirmity, that it makes us partial even to those that come of us, as well as ourselves. L'Estrange. To come of. To proceed as effects from their |