MISCELLANY.
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION.
The St. Louis Republican gives this account of the origin of a recent mysterious fire in that city; A well-authenticated case of spontaneous combustion occurred last Thursday in the suburbs of Oak Hill, the residence of Mr. Edw. Mead, the jeweler, furnishing the sensation. The circumstances of the fire were, fortunately, such as to leave no doubt regarding its cause, and these circumstances are especially interesting in a city where fires of a mysterious origin have been remarkably frequent. The fire proved to be the result of spontaneous combustion, and from a cause which has been the one usually credited with effects of the kind. Some of the floors in Mr. Mead’s house had lately received a thorough coating of colored varnish, and, in the polishing, hemp cloths—squares cut from sacks—had been used. One of these sacks, saturated with the varnish, had been put in the basket for further use. It had of itself smoldered, and, finally, produced the fire. The case is a curious one, and of value from the knowledge it affords of a dangerous combination.
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