pete@stc.UUCP (01/23/86)
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From the August 1853 preface to `Bleak House', written by Charles
Dickens:
"The possibility of what is called Spontaneous Combustion
has been denied since the death of Mr. Krook; and my
good friend MR. LEWIS (quite mistaken, as he soon found,
in supposing the thing to have been abandoned by all
authorities) published some ingenious letters to me at
the time when that event was chronicled, arguing that
Spontaneous Combustion could not possibly be. I have no
need to observe that I do not wilfully or negligently
mislead my readers, and that before I wrote that
description I took pains to investigate the subject.
There are about thirty cases on record, of which the most
famous, that of the Countess Cornelia de Bandi Cesenate,
was minutely investigated and described by Giuseppe
Bianchini, a prebendary of Verona, otherwise
distinguished in letters, who published an account of it
at Verona, in 1731, which he afterwards republished at
Rome. The appearances beyond all rational doubt observed
in that case, are the appearances observed in Mr.
Krook's case. The next most famous instance happened at
Rhiems, six years earlier; and the historian in that case
is LE CAT, one of the most renowned surgeons produced by
France. The subject was a woman, whose husband was
ignorantly convicted of having murdered her; but, on
solemn appeal to a higher court, he was acquitted,
because it was shown upon the evidence that she died the
death to which this name of Spontaneous Combustion is
given. I do not think it necessary to add to these
notable facts, and that general reference to the
authorities which will be found at page 459* (Macdonald
Illustrated Classics, 1955 - PWK), the recorded opinions
and experiences of distinguished medical professors,
French, English, and Scotch, in more modern days;
contenting myself with observing, that I shall not
abandon the facts until there shall have been a
considerable Spontaneous Combustion of the testimony on
which human occurrences are usually received.
* Another case, very clearly described by a dentist,
occurred at the town of Columbus, in the United States of
America, quite recently. The subject was a German, who
kept a liquor-shop, and was an inveterate drunkard."
--
Peter Kendell <pete@stc.UUCP>
...!mcvax!ukc!stc!pete
`When your achievements match your expectations,
it's time to move on.'