Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) is the pseudoscientific concept of the spontaneous combustion of a living (or recently deceased) human body without an external source of ignition on the body. In addition to reported cases, descriptions of the alleged phenomenon appear in literature, and both types have been observed to share common characteristics in terms of circumstances and the remains of the victim. Scientific investigations have attempted to analyze reported instances of SHC and have resulted in hypotheses regarding potential causes and mechanisms, including victim behavior and habits, alcohol consumption, and proximity to potential sources of ignition, as well as the behavior of fires that consume melted fats. Natural explanations, as well as unverified natural phenomena, have been proposed to explain reports of SHC. The current scientific consensus is that purported cases of SHC involve overlooked external sources of ignition.
Overview "Spontaneous human combustion" refers to the death from a fire originating without an apparent external source of ignition: a belief that the fire starts within the body of the victim. This idea and the term "spontaneous human combustion" were both first proposed in 1746 by Paul Rolli, a Fellow of the Royal Society, in an article published in the Philosophical Transactions concerning the mysterious death of Countess Cornelia Zangari Bandi. Writing in The British Medical Journal in 1938, coroner Gavin Thurston describes the phenomenon as having "apparently attracted the attention not only of the medical profession but of the non-medical professionals one hundred years ago" (referring to a fictional account published in 1834 in the Frederick Marryat cycle). In his 1995 book Ablaze!, Larry E. Arnold, a director of ParaScience International, wrote that there had been about 200 cited reports of spontaneous human combustion worldwide over a period of around 300 years.
Characteristics The topic received coverage in the British Medical Journal in 1938. An article by L. A. Parry cited an 1823-published book Medical Jurisprudence, which stated that commonalities among recorded cases of spontaneous human combustion included the following characteristics:
the victims are chronic alcoholics; they are usually elderly females; the body has not burned spontaneously, but some lighted substance has come into contact with it; the hands and feet usually fall off; the fire has caused very little damage to combustible things in contact with the body; the combustion of the body has left a residue of greasy and fetid ashes, very offensive in odour. Alcoholism is a common theme in early SHC literary references, in part because some Victorian era physicians and writers believed spontaneous human combustion was the result of alcoholism. As of the mid-1800s, there were enough cases collected for a common etiology to emerge: the victims are fat middle-aged women who drink excessively. This made their tissues highly flammable. Once ignited, they burn a light-blue that cannot be extinguished by water. Almost all cases were women of disrepute, some of whom were said to subsist entirely on alcoholic drinks. A rare exception was countess Cornelia Zangari de Bandi, who was said to bathe regularly in "camphorated spirits of wine".
Scientific investigation An extensive two-and-a-half-year research project, involving 30 historical cases of alleged SHC from 1725 to 1982, was conducted by science investigator Joe Nickell and forensic analyst John F. Fischer. Their lengthy, two-part report was published in 1984 in the journal of the International Association of Arson Investigators, and incorporated into their 1988 book Secrets of the Supernatural. Nickell has written frequently on the subject, appeared on television documentaries, conducted additional research, and lectured at the New York State Academy of Fire Science at Montour Falls, New York, as a guest instructor. The Nickell and Fischer investigation, which looked at cases in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, showed that the burned cadavers were close to plausible sources for the ignition: candles, lamps, fireplaces, and so on. Such sources were often omitted from published accounts of these incidents, presumably to deepen the aura of mystery surrounding an apparently "spontaneous" death. The investigations also found that there was a correlation between alleged SHC deaths and the victim's intoxication (or other forms of incapacitation) which could conceivably have caused them to be careless and unable to respond properly to an accident. Where the destruction of the body was not particularly extensive, a primary source of combustible fuel could plausibly have been the victim's clothing or a covering such as a blanket or comforter. However, where the destruction was extensive, additional fuel sources were involved, such as chair stuffing, floor coverings, the flooring itself, and the like. The investigators described how such materials helped to retain melted fat, which caused more of the body to be burned and destroyed, yielding still more liquified fat, in a cyclic process known as the "wick effect" or the "candle effect". According to the Nickell and Fischer investigation, nearby objects often remained undamaged because fire tends to burn upwards, but burns laterally with some difficulty. The fires in question are relatively small, achieving considerable destruction by the wick effect, and nearby objects may not be close enough to catch fire themselves (much as one can closely approach a modest campfire without burning). As with other mysteries, Nickell and Fischer cautioned against a "single, simplistic explanation for all unusual burning deaths" but rather urged investigating "on an individual basis". Neurologist Steven Novella has said that skepticism about spontaneous human combustion is now bleeding over into becoming popular skepticism about spontaneous combustion. In a 2002 study, Angi M. Christensen of the University of Tennessee cremated both healthy and osteoporotic samples of human bone and compared the resulting color changes and fragmentation. The study found that osteoporotic bone samples "consistently displayed more discoloration and a greater degree of fragmentation than healthy ones." The same study found that when human tissue is burned, the resulting flame produces a small amount of heat, indicating that fire is unlikely to spread from burning tissue.
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