User talk:AlistairRemie

Over the years there have been many theories for the causes behind human spontaneous combustion, or HSC, there is however one thing that everybody seems to be missing in their search for the answer, Urine! Urine contains large amounts of urea. Urea is an organic compound consisting of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen. From this we get saltpeter/petre or potassium nitrate, indeed in the 1600´s saltpetermen would collect the saltpeter from toilets and even from church pews where the ladies would sit, this was then used in the manufacture of gunpowder. Saltpetre when alight with other combustible materials will burn fiercely. If we look at some of the photos of HSC we see the presence of chairs, beds and in a toilet a carpet. The majority of victims are old and likely to be incontinent. Over a period of time urine soaking through a chair or bed will leave a high concentration of potassium nitrate, all it takes to ignite this incendiary device is a spark, bed springs? cigarette? static? Certainly the wick effect is a credible theory, but i believe my theory to be the answer to this long sought after enigma. I would welcome any feedback on this theory. Alistair woodburne as.woodburn@wanadoo.nl