produced by the Use of Spirituous Liquors. iyy 
victims, rubbed over their bodies with combustible sub- 
stances, by which they were consumed. But even if 
such an idea should ever be conceived, it would be im- 
possible to carry it into execution. Formerly, when cri- 
minals were condemned to the flames, what a quantity of 
combustible substances were necessary to burn their bo- 
dies ! A baker’s boy, named Renaud, being condemned 
to be burnt a few years ago at Caen, two large cart-loads 
of faggots were required to consume the body, and at 
the end of more than ten hours some remains of the bones 
were still to be seen. What proves that the combustion 
in the before-mentioned instances was not artificial is, 
that people often arrived at the moment when it had ta- 
ken place, and that the body was found in its natural 
state. People entered the house of Madame Boiseon at 
the time when her body was on fire, and all the neigh- 
bours saw it. Besides, the people of whom I have spo 
ken were almost all of the lowest class, and not much 
calculated to give rise to the commission of such a crime. 
The woman mentioned in the Transactions of Copenha- 
gen was of the poorest condition ; Grace Pitt was the 
wife of a fishmonger ; Mary Jauffret that of a shoema- 
ker ; and two other women, who resided at Caen, be- 
longed to the lowest order of society. It is incontesti- 
ble, then, that in the instances I have adduced the com- 
bustion was always accidental and never intentional. 
It may be seen that a knowledge of the causes of this 
phenomenon is no less interesting to criminal justice than 
to natural history, for unjust suspicions may sometimes 
fall on an innocent man. Who will not shudder on re- 
collecting the case of the unfortunate inhabitant of 
Rheims, who, after having lost Ids wife by the effect of 
combustion, was in danger of perishing himself on the 
scaffold, condemned unjustly by an ignorant tribunal ! 
I shall consider myself happy if this picture of the 
Yol. i. z 
