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French Fiery Death
The Legend, from My Earliest Source
According to an article on spontaneous combustion written by one John Knott in 1905, this story was first told of in a book by the famous physician Thomas Bartholin [1616-1680] (who is the first source for many historic accounts of spontaneous human combustion, by the way). This particular account is attributed to Bartholin's Acta Medica et Philosophica Hafniensia, said to have been published in 1673. The account, as quoted (and possibly translated) by Knott is this:
| "A poor woman at Paris used to drink spirit of wine plentifully for the space of three years, so as to take nothing else. Her body contracted such a combustible disposition, that one night she, lying down on a straw-couch, was all burned to ashes and smoke, except the scull and the extremities of her fingers." |
Since no actual date is given for the event, I can only say that it must have happened previous to 1673, when Bartholin published the story. I will attempt to get copy of Bartholin's account straight from his book, in case there are other details that are not mentioned; but tracking a copy of a book this old that I can look at will take some time. In addition, Knott mentions that this case is also told in a book from 1717 by a man named Cohausen, entitled Lumen Novem Phosphoris Accensum... I will also try to track a copy of this book's account.
At this late point in time and without an exact date for the event or actual name for the victim, it is likely impossible to know if this case is scientifically explainable or supernatural. It is this very lack of important information that renders ancient cases such as this useless as scientific evidence; but they remain entertaining stories that add a sense of historic depth -- and implied authenticity -- to believer's theories of spontaneous combustion.
Variations
Despite how straight-forward the account above is, variations on the legend have appeared in the other sources I have for this story. Here are the variations, in chronological order.
- 1982 - Mysteries of the Unexplained from the Readers' Digest Association, mentions that this case was first published in a book by Thomas Bartholin in 1673, but they fail to state what the book was titled even though they got the account straight from Knott's article. Also according to this source, this case is mentioned in Pierre-Aime Lair's infamous 1800 book on spontaneous combustion, Essai sur les combustions humaines. I say "infamous" because many book's mention it, but I have yet to track down anyone who has (or has seen) an actual copy of it... I'll keep trying.
- 1989 - The World's Greatest Mysteries by Joyce Robins tells essentially the same story with only four differences: she states the event occurred in 1673 rather than was published then, she refers to the victim as "he", she leaves the head out of the list of remains (reporting them as just finger bones and ash), and, most notibly, she adds a supernatural taste to the story by claiming that the straw bed on which the victim burned remained unburned, a detail not mentioned or supported by Knott's account.
Knott's 1905 article on spontaneous combustion, from which the newer sources likely all got this story from originally, was a scientific study of reasons why Knott believed spontaneous combustion doesn't exist, of which this story was one piece of evidence. All the later sources use the same story to try to prove that spontaneous combustion does exist... what can I say? I'm amused by this.
Sources:
- Now available on Request.
See Also:
