Spontaneous human combustion: a sometimes incomprehensible phenomenon.

Several cases of human combustion, the cause of which was not evident, have been described over the last few centuries. There are three intriguing elements to such cases. Firstly, although the body is destroyed, the immediate surroundings are left almost intact. Secondly, there is often no visible source of heat that might have started the fire. Thirdly, sometimes bodies are not completely destroyed, certain parts being perfectly preserved, adjacent to others that are reduced to a state of ashes.