Spontaneous Combustion

"She was all burned to ashes except her skull and the extremities of her fingers..." This Victorian account of spontaneous human combustion encompassed a moral dimension: they believed hellfire itself consumed the victim. Even now, few scientists agree on what causes SHC. Examines several theories, including the idea that the fire starts inside the body, and looks at other strange fire phenomena, such as swamp ignitions. 176 pages, 8 b/w illus., 5 1/8 x 7 3/4.