"
We were leaning forward expectantly, horrified by the thought
that perhaps, after all, the Record was correct.
"Now," resumed Kennedy, his tone changing, "suppose we try a
little experiment--one that was tried very convincingly by the
immortal Liebig. Here is a sponge. I am going to soak it in gin
from this bottle, the same that Mr. Langley was drinking from on
the night of the--er--the tragedy."
Kennedy took the saturated sponge and placed it in an agate-iron
pan from the kitchen. Then he lighted it. The bluish flame shot
upward, and in tense silence we watched it burn lower and lower,
till all the alcohol was consumed. Then he picked up the sponge
and passed it around. It was dry, but the sponge itself had not
been singed.
"We now know," he continued, "that from the nature of combustion
it is impossible for the human body to undergo spontaneous
ignition or combustion in the way the scientific experts of the
past century believed. Swathe the body in the thickest of
non-conductors of heat, and what happens? A profuse perspiration
exudes, and before such an ignition could possibly take place all
the moisture of the body would have to be evaporated. As
seventy-five per cent or more of the body is water, it is evident
that enormous heat would be necessary--moisture is the great
safeguard.
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