the name applied to small bottles often found in the tombs of the ancients, and so called because supposed to contain the tears of the deceased's friends. These phials are made of glass or earthenware, with a long neck, and the mouth formed, as was thought, to receive the eye-ball. The figure of one or two eyes has sometimes been found impressed upon them. It is more probable, however, that they contain aromatic balsam or such liquids as were used for preserving the dead, as no mention is made of preserving the tears of mourners or friends. On a marble bas-relief in the Capitol, representing the obsequies of Meleager, a female appears approaching the funeral pile, and in her hand is a phial closely resembling the so-called lachrymatories.