Although the scientific support for spontaneous human combustion was weaker than Dickens stated, the public largely accepted it as a reality in his time.
Descriptions of spontaneous human combustion date back to the 17th century and continue to be reported today, though most of the instances were recorded in the 1800s.
I shall not abandon the facts, he concluded with typical Dickensian panache, until there shall have been a considerable Spontaneous Combustion of the testimony on which human occurrences are usually received.
This effect can produce many of the unusual signs of spontaneous human combustion, such as the nearly complete incineration of the body and the lack of fire damage to the victims' surroundings.