Leaving the philosophy of this question for the savans, I beg to add the following to the alleged cases already referred to. Dr. Lindsley has compiled a table of nineteen instances, from the Dictionnaire de Médecine,—not, however, of spontaneous combustion exactly, but of something akin to it; namely, the rapid ignition of the human body (which per se is not combustible) by contact with flame, as a consequence of the saturation of its tissues by alcohol:
| No. | Works in which they are reported. | By whom. | Date of Occurrence. | Age of the Individual. | Extent of the Combustion. | Immediate Cause when known. | Habit of Life. | Situation of the Remains &c. |
| 1 | Actes de Copenhagen | Jacobeus | 1692 | — | The whole body, except the skull and last joints of the fingers | — | Abuse of spirits for three years | Upon a chair. |
| 2 | Annual Register | Blanchin de Verone | 1763 | 62 | Except the skull, a part of the face, and three fingers | Took fire through sitting near a lamp | Indulged in frequent fomentation of camphorated spirits | Upon the floor. |
| 3 | Ibid. | Wilmer | — | 50 | Except thigh and one leg | A light upon a chair near the bed | Took a pint of rum daily | Upon the floor near the bed. |
| 4 | Ency. Method. | — | — | 50 | Except a few bones | — | Habitually drunken. | |
| 5 | Acta Medica | — | — | — | Except the skull and fingers | — | She drank brandy as her only drink | |
| 6 | Mem. on Spon. Com. | Lecat | 1744 | 60 | Except a part of the head and limbs | A pipe which she was smoking | A drunkard | Near the chimney. |
| 7 | Ibid. | Ibid. | 1745 | — | Ibid. | A fire | Habitually drunken | Upon the hearth. |
| 8 | Ibid. | Ibid. | 1749 | 80 | A charred skeleton only left | Fire of the hearth | Drank brandy only for many years | Sitting on a chair near the fire. |
| 9 | Jour. de Méd. | — | 1779 | — | Except a few bones, a hand, and a foot | A foot-stove under her feet | A drunkard. | |
| 10 | Ibid. | — | 1782 | 60 | Ibid. | A fire of the hearth | Ibid. | Upon the hearth. |
| 11 | Revue Médicale | Julia Fontenelle | 1820 | 90 | Except the skull and a portion of skin | A candle | Abuse of wine and Eau de Cologne | In bed. |
| 12 | Ibid. | Ibid. | 1830 | 66 | Except the right leg | Ibid. | Ibid. | In the same bed. Both burnt together. |
| 13 | — | Gen. William Kepland | — | Very old | Almost wholly consumed | A lighted pipe | — | Upon the floor. |
| 14 | Journal de Florence | Joseph Battaylia | 1786 | — | Skin of right arm and right thigh only burnt | — | — | Upon the floor. He lived four days after. |
| 15 | Revue Méd. | Robertson | 1799 | — | Combustion incomplete | — | Abuse of brandy | Upon a bench. |
| 16 | Ibid. | M. Marchand | — | — | Hand and thigh only burnt | — | — | Cured. |
| 17 | Journal Hosp. Hamp. | — | — | 17 | One finger of right hand only burnt | A candle | — | Cured. |
| 18 | — | Alph. Devengee | 1829 | 51 | Muscles of thighs, superior extremities and trunk burnt | A footstove | Abuse of spirits | Upon a chair. |
| 19 | Dic. de Médecine | — | — | — | Combustion almost complete | A footstove | Ibid. | Upon the floor. |
The following case is related, on the authority of Dr. Schofield, Upper Canada, in the Journal of the American Temperance Union for March, 1837:—A young man, aged twenty-five, had been an habitual drunkard for many years. One evening at about eleven o'clock he went to a blacksmith's shop: he was then full of liquor, though not thoroughly drunk. The blacksmith, who had just crossed the road, was suddenly alarmed by the breaking forth of a brilliant conflagration in his shop. He rushed across, and threw open the door, and there stood the man, erect, in the midst of a widely-extended silver-coloured flame, bearing, as he described it, exactly the appearance of the wick of a burning candle in the midst of its own flame. He seized him by the shoulder, and jerked him to the door, and the flame was instantly extinguished. There was no fire in the shop, and no articles likely to cause combustion within reach of the individual. In the course of a short time a general sloughing came on, and the flesh was almost wholly removed in the dressing, leaving the bones and a few of the large blood-vessels standing. The blood nevertheless rallied round the heart, and life continued to the thirteenth day, when he died, a loathsome, ill-featured, and disgusting object. His shrieks and cries were described as truly horrible.
Some information will be found in Nos. 44. and 56. of an old magazine called The Hive,—a book which may be found in the British Museum. Two cases have occurred recently, one in 1851 at Paris,
and one last year somewhere in the north. Both may be found by reference to the newspapers.
Shirley Hibberd.
MAJOR GENERAL LAMBERT.
(Vol. vii., p. 269.)
Lord Braybrooke speaks of a tradition of Major-General Lambert's having been imprisoned in Cornet Castle, in the island of Guernsey, after the Restoration. The following documents, copies of which exist in Guernsey, will prove that he really was kept as a prisoner in that island: