The Entrancing Flame

The Entrancing Flame is a 1996 book by John E Heymer. The book was first published on 11 April 1996 through Little, Brown and Company and focuses on the subject of spontaneous human combustion (SHC) and Heymer's theory for why it occurs.
Synopsis
In the book Heymer examines several cases of purported SHC and believes that they fit the following criteria:
*Victims apparently remain motionless while on fire, even though they are alive when it starts.
*Victims also show no sign of awareness while alight.
*Victims do not cry out while alight.
*Survivors of apparent "mini" SHC events have no memory of what happened to them.
As for the putative mechanism behind SHC, Heymer speculates that defective mitochondria in the body are to blame, breaking down and allowing free hydrogen to build up within the cell. Heymer then supposes that a small pocket of hydrogen is detonated by the 0.225 volt of electricity generated across the inner membrane of the mitochondrion. Heymer claims that the human body, through mitochondria, carries 45,000 volts per cubic centimetre and that the process of a single cell erupting sets off neighbouring cells in a chain reaction that destroys the body until biological action ceases.

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