319. Has spontaneous combustion ever occurred in living bodies?
It has occurred in numerous instances to persons habituated to the excessive use of spirits.
320. Why should spontaneous combustion occur in the case of the drunkard?
Because spirituous drinks contain a large proportion of ALCOHOL, one of the constituents of which is hydrogen. The vital energies of the drunkard, being destroyed by excess, chemical agencies obtain an ascendancy, and it is supposed that the hydrogen of the alcohol combines with the phosphorous of the body to form phosphoretted hydrogen, which ignites spontaneously, and literally consumes the living temple.
"Drought and heat consume the snow waters; so doth the grave those which have sinned."—Job xxiv.
Cases of spontaneous combustion are of rare occurrence. But they are sufficiently well authenticated by high medical authority, in many parts of the world, to present an awful warning to the inveterate drunkard. The cases of which we have read the particulars present details of the most appalling description. How signally the Almighty displeasure at intemperance is expressed, when the very drink which imparts the mad pleasure of intoxication is made the direct instrument by which the drunkard is destroyed!