.1 BLAZING BEACH 563 



in the beach, and it is reasonable to infer that wherever such con- 

 ditions prevail, similar phenomena of combustion may occur," and 

 he therefore finds that the explanation of the Kittery phenomenon 

 is not only satisfactory in that case, but that it affords a satisfactory 

 solution of the way in which fires originated in Cretaceous time. 



In 1900, Dr. G. F. Matthew of St. John, i\ T . B., described a bog 

 in the vicinity of that city which gave evidence of the occurrence of 

 a forest fire about two thousand years ago, this estimate of age being 

 based upon the age of growing trees, the thickness of individual layers 

 of peat, and the relative density of different layers, together with 

 the known rate of formation as determined by the age of trees in situ.* 



Evidences of ancient forest fires are to be met with in other 

 bogs to which Dr. Matthews directs attention, and it is altogether 

 probable that they had a similar origin. The agency of lightning 

 is excluded as not tenable because of the thorough knowledge of the 

 bogs in question for a period of from 6,000 to 9,000 years, and from 

 the evidence at hand the conclusion is reached that they must have 

 been due to the early inhabitants of the district who knew nothing 

 as to precautions against the spread of fire, and who would have 

 been but little likely to have adopted them had they been known. 



Upon a careful examination of the account given by Dr. Matthews, 

 it would seem that the situation of the burned wood within the area 

 of a bog is a distinct argument against man as the active agent, be- 

 cause if he had been the cause of the fires, evidence of them should 

 be found in the more elevated areas about the shores of the bog, but 

 of this the account gives no information and we are left to infer 

 that only the bog itself was involved. Furthermore, the features 

 of deposition and the general character of the various strata, point 

 with some force to the idea that we have here another example of a 

 fire due to the spontaneous combustion of gases generated in the 

 inferior strata where decomposition was evidently active. 



Apart from its more strictly scientific aspects, the occurrence of 

 such a conflagration as that which developed at Kittery Point gives 

 a most singularly striking manifestation of a phenomenon which, 

 as developed upon a very limited scale, has been a matter of common 

 knowledge for a very long time, and has been woven into the folk- 

 lore of various countries, where it has often played an important 

 part in the life of the common people. Among English-speaking 

 people the well-known ' corpse-candle,' ' Jack-o'-lantern/ and ' ignis 

 fatuus' take a most conspicuous place in the superstitions of the less 

 educated portions of the community, both in Europe and in America, 

 even to the present day, although the scientific explanation has long 

 since been accepted and understood. 



4C A Forest Fire at St. John, about 2,000 Years Ago.' Can. Rec. Sc, VIII., 

 1900, pp. 213-218. 



