{"id":24989,"date":"2019-11-29T10:00:28","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T10:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/post\/the-curious-case-of-spontaneous-human-combustion\/"},"modified":"2021-01-29T11:29:23","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T11:29:23","slug":"the-curious-case-of-spontaneous-human-combustion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.masterofmalt.com\/blog\/post\/the-curious-case-of-spontaneous-human-combustion\/","title":{"rendered":"Spontaneous Human Combustion From Too Much Alcohol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some readers may have done things they regret after a bit too much to drink but in the 18th and 19th centuries, a surfeit of alcohol was thought to cause spontaneous combustion! Ian Buxton investigates this curious phenomenon.<\/b><\/p>\n

Do you sometimes wonder if you\u2019re drinking too much? Despite the health warnings, I know that I do. The risks are well-known and widely publicised<\/a>, and yet we carry on tippling regardless (at least, I know that I do). But have you considered \u2013 and, ladies, I\u2019m looking particularly at you \u2013 the horrific risk of spontaneous human combustion?\u00a0 Yes, the all too dreadful prospect that after a few drinks too many you might burst into flames and be consumed by fire?<\/span><\/p>\n

Cases of\u00a0unexplained spontaneous human combustion<\/h2>\n

Consider the case of Mary Clues. Following the death of her husband the unfortunate widow was, understandably perhaps, \u201cmuch addicted to intoxication\u201d and for the next year reputed to consume at least half a pint of rum or aniseed water (presumably something resembling today\u2019s pastis) each day.\u00a0 Struck down by jaundice she was \u201cincapable of much action and not in a condition to work, [but] still continued her old habit of drinking every day\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Late on Saturday 1<\/span> March 1773, she was helped to bed and left to sleep. At 5:30 the following morning, smoke was seen pouring through the window of her humble lodging. Neighbours broke down her door and rushed in. Mary\u2019s body\u2014or what was left of it\u2014was found between her bed and fireplace. \u201cThe skin, muscles, and viscera were destroyed,\u201d it was reported and \u201cthe bones of the cranium, breast, spine, and upper extremities were calcined and covered with a whitish efflorescence.\u201d Only one leg and one thigh remained intact of the poor woman.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Does your room look like this after a night out? Then you may have been the victim of spontaneous combustion<\/p><\/div>\n

Now if she had been paying attention, she might have been warned by the fate of Grace Pitt, an Ipswich fishmonger\u2019s wife. On the 9th of April 1744, overjoyed by the news that one of her daughters had returned safely from a trip to Gibraltar, she celebrated not wisely but well with \u201ca large quantity of spirituous liquors\u201d. The next morning another daughter found her burnt remains in the kitchen, \u201chaving the appearance of a log of wood, consumed by a fire without apparent flame\u201d. Pouring water on Grace resulted in a \u201cfoetid odour and smoke which exhaled from the body\u201d almost suffocating some neighbours who had come to help.\u00a0 \u201cThe trunk\u2026..resembled a heap of coals covered in white ash\u201d and her head, arms, legs and thighs were also burnt. There was little or no damage to other items in the room.<\/span><\/p>\n

These are several similarly chilling accounts to be found in scientific and popular literature of the 18th and 19<\/span>th<\/span> centuries.\u00a0 Even novelists took up the idea. In Charles Dickens\u2019 <\/span>Bleak House<\/span><\/i><\/a> (1852-53) the rag and bottle merchant Krook, \u201can eccentric individual of intemperate habits, far advanced in life\u201d is discovered to have been completely destroyed, leaving only \u201ca smouldering suffocating vapour in the room, and a dark greasy coating on the walls and ceiling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Further similar accounts pop up from time to time.\u00a0 Curiously, they were quite frequent in pre-Prohibition America but still appear, most recently in September 2017 in Tottenham, north London when a 70-year-old, John Nolan from County Mayo in Ireland, appeared to spontaneously burst into flames while walking in the street. The coroner later concluded that the luckless pensioner had accidentally set fire to himself while lighting a cigarette proving, we might conclude that smoking holds even greater hazards than excessive drinking.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"whisky

Whisky author, Ian Buxton\u00a0holding a glass of whisky as he kneels by a cask at Glenfiddich Distillery.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n

So is\u00a0human combustion possible from too much alcohol?<\/h2>\n

Most of the earlier cases have something in common: they occur in temperance and prohibitionist literature. I\u2019ve selected the instances of Mary Clues and Grace Pitt from a number that may be found in Robert Macnish\u2019s <\/span>The Anatomy of Drunkenness<\/span><\/i><\/a>, a highly-influential work from the 1830s which enjoyed multiple reprints (my current bedtime reading, if you must know). \u201cIn speaking of drunkenness,\u201d he writes, \u201cit is impossible not to be struck with the physical and moral degradation which it has spread over the world\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

To be completely fair, Macnish does quietly admit to some scepticism about the whole idea of spontaneous human combustion but included a lengthy chapter on the subject just to be sure.\u00a0 And many of the cases have something else in common: they involve women, generally of lower social class. Drinking to excess is bad enough seems to be the moral here, but especially wicked when working class women are involved!\u00a0 Ladies, you\u2019ve been warned: best to abjure the demon drink altogether and embrace a life of abstinence and Christian virtue.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some readers may have done things they regret after a bit too much to drink but in the 18th and 19th centuries, a surfeit of alcohol was thought to cause…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":24993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[893],"tags":[901],"yoast_head":"\nSpontaneous Human Combustion From Too Much Alcohol | Master of Malt blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is spontaneous human combustion possible if you have too much to drink? 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