BURNING, the action of fire on some pabulum or fuel.

BURNING of the Dead, a custom much practised by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and still retained by several nations in the East Indies. The antiquity of this custom reaches as high as the Theban war, where we are told of the great solemnity accompanying this ceremony at the pyre of Menacacus and Archemorus, who were contemporary with Jair, the eighth judge of Israel. Homer abounds with funeral obsequies of this nature. In the interior regions of Asia the practice was of very ancient date, and its continuance long; for we are told that in the reign of Julian the king of Chonia burnt his son's body, and deposited the ashes in a silver urn. Coeval almost with the first instances of this kind in the East was the practice in the western parts of the world. The Heruli, the Getæ, and the Thracians, had all along observed it; and its antiquity was as great among the Cæltæ, Sarmatæ, and other neighbouring nations. This custom seems to have arisen out of friendship to the deceased, whose ashes were preserved, as we preserve a lock of hair, a ring, or a seal, which had been the property of a departed friend.

Kings were burnt in cloth made of the asbestos stone, that their ashes might be preserved pure from any mixture with the fuel and other matters thrown on the funeral pile. The same method is still observed with the princes of Tartary. Among the Greeks, the body was placed on the top of a pile, on which were thrown divers animals, and even slaves and captives, besides unguents and perfumes. In the funeral of Patroclus we find a number of sheep and

1 See Diary, supra cit., vol. vi., pages 338-342.

2 See London Annual Register for 1814, p. 133 of Chronicle.

3 See Diary, supra cit., p. 338.

oxen thrown in, then four horses, followed by two dogs, and lastly by twelve Trojan prisoners. The like is mentioned by Virgil in the funerals of his Trojans; where, besides oxen, swine, and all manner of cattle, we find eight youths condemned to the flames. The first thing was the fat of the beasts, wherewith the body was covered, that it might consume the faster; it being reckoned a great felicity to be quickly reduced to ashes. For the like reason, where numbers were to be burnt at the same time, care was taken to mix with them some of humid constitutions, and therefore more easily to be inflamed. Thus we are told by Plutarch and Macrobius, that for every ten men it was customary to put in one woman. Soldiers usually had their arms burnt with them. The garments worn by the living were also thrown on the pile, with other ornaments and presents; a piece of extravagance which the Athenians carried to so great a height, that some of their lawgivers were forced to restrain them, by severe penalties, from defrauding the living by their liberality to the dead. In some cases burning was expressly forbidden among the Romans, and even looked upon as the highest impiety. Thus, infants who died before teething were entombed unburnt in the ground, in a particular place set apart for this purpose. The same practice obtained in regard to persons struck dead with lightning. (See BIDENTAL.) Some say that burning was also denied to suicides. The manner of burning among

the Romans was not unlike that of the Greeks. The Burning. corpse, being brought out without the city, was carried directly to the place appointed for burning it; which, if it joined the sepulchre, was called bustum, if separate from it, ustrina, and there laid on the roguis or pyra, a pile of wood prepared for burning it, and built in the shape of an altar, but differing in height according to the quality of the deceased. The wood commonly used was that of such trees as contain most pitch or resin; and whatever kind was used, they split it, for the more easy catching fire; while round the pile were set cypress trees. The body, stretched on a couch or litter, was placed on the pile; and then the next of kin performed the ceremony of lighting the pile; which was done with a torch, the person turning his face away, as if it were performed with reluctance. During the ceremony, decursions and games were celebrated; after which came the ossilegium, or gathering of the bones and ashes; also washing, anointing, and depositing them in urns. Though the Romans borrowed the custom of cremation from the Greeks, it was not generally practised at Rome till towards the end of the republic. Sylla was the first of the noble family of the Genus Cornelia that was laid on the funeral pile; and this, it is said, was done to secure his corpse against indignities from his numerous enemies. The practice of burning the dead had fallen into disuse about the end of the fourth century.

Helleborus viridanus.

Drawn by J. C. Miller, 1810.

Helleborus foetidus.

Draba vulgaris

Drimys Winteri.

Papaver Rhoeas.

Malva sylvestris

Drawn by J. C. Smith, 1810

Malva sylvestris.
Malva sylvestris.
Linum catharticum
Linum catharticum
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.

Anacardium occidentale

(Pumpkin Seed Tree.)

Illustration by J. C. B. B. B. B. B.

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.

Anacardium occidentale.
(Cashew Nut Tree.)

Engr'd by G. Adanson, Eding.

Published by A & C. Black, Edinburgh.

Serpentinea repens.
Sarothamnus scoparius.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 6.
Andromeda hypnoides.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 11.
Fig. 12.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 6.
Andromeda hypnoides.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 10.
Fig. 11.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 7.
Carica Papaya.

Zizia aurea

Erihusa Cynapium

Caryophyllaceae
Illustrated by J. C. Smith, 1840.

Conium maculatum.
Published by A. & G. Black, Edinburgh.

Eriogonum croceum
Talatonia officinalis
Valeriana officinalis.
Lactuca

Lactuca virosa

Published by A. & C. Black, Edinburgh

Leontodon taraxacum.

Leontodon Taraxacum
CUCUMIS SATIVUS
Cuscuta verrucosa.
Fig. 1.
Solanum nigrum.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 2.
Solanum dulcamara.
Citrus Melicandrus
Atropa Belladonna.
Hyoscyamus niger.
Digitalis purpurea.
Digitalis purpurea.

Polygonum Scirpicus

Polygonum Bistorta.

Myriatica mucronata
(Alstonia)

Myristica moschata
(Nutmeg.)

Drawn by K. H. M. & Ed. H. & Co.

Published by A & C Black, Edinburgh.

Fig. 2.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 3.

Euphorbia hypoleucantha
Described by LAC. Vol. 8. Tab. 10.

Fig. 2.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 9.

Euphorbia hypericifolia.

Published by A. & C. Black, Edinburgh.

Engl. by G. Ahman, Edin.

Artocarpus incisa.
(Bread Nut)

COCCO CARINATA

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 5.

Amanita muscaria.
234 A. verrucosa.
56 Agaricus semiglobatus.

Hordeum vulgare L.
Wheat

Secale cereale.

Published by A & C Black Edinburgh.

A PLAN OF BREAKWATER with the BREAKWATER and the NEW DOCK STAIR.

A PLAN of CHERBOURG with the BREAKWATER and the NEW DOCK YARD.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Drawn by G. Adamson, Esq.

1871-1872

PLATE CXXXIX.

SECTION & STERN VIEWS of STONE VESSELS.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

10 20 30 Feet

Fig. 3.

Machinery Employed to Case the Breakwater with Large Blocks of Stone.

1 2 3 4 5 Tons.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5.

PLATE CAL.

SKETCH OF PYMOUTH BAY.

TRANSVERSE SECTION of the FOREMOST ISLAND of the BREAKWATER.

Rock Water Spring Tides.
10 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2
Low 10 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2
10 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2

Published by A. & C. Black, Edinburgh.

By W. C. George, Esq.

PLATE CXL.

SKETCH OF PLYMOUTH SOUND.

TRANSVERSE SECTION of the FINISHED PART of the BREAKWATER.

High Water Spring Tides.
10h 10m Neap 10h
Low 10h 10m 10h
10h 10m Spring 10h

Drawn by C. Aikman, Esq.

Fig. 9.
Fig. 11.
WEARMOUTH BRIDGE.
Fig. 12.
Fig. 13.
Fig. 14.
Fig. 15.
SEVERN BRIDGE.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 9.
COLERBROOK HALL.
Fig. 11.
Fig. 12.
Fig. 10.
BUILDWAS.
Fig. 13.