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membranes ; within which thofe fpirits engender a kind of camphor, which in the night-time, in fleep, by a full refpira- tion, are put in a ftronger motion, and are more apt to be fet on fire; fee Phil. Tranf. N° 476. p. 453, feq. to which we muft refer the reader.
Others afcribe the caufe of fuch perfons being fet on fire, to lightening, and their burning fo entirely, to the greater quan- tity of phofphorus, and other combuftible matter they con- tained. Philof. Tranfaa. ibid. p. 478, 479. See the article Phosphorus.
It is well known, that divers putrid bodies will glow, and even fparklc in the dark ; not to mention thofe lambent flames pro- duced from putrid humours in church -yards, and the like places, called ignes fatui.
Flafhes of light have been often produced from the bodies of men, as well as other animals, by a brisk motion. Fortunius Licetus mentions a perfon, who, by only rubbing his body with his hand, could make fire iflue ; and Maffei relates the fame of Signora Caflandra Buri Rambalda of Verona, who needed on- ly rub her flefh with a linncn cloth, to produce flafhes of light- See the articles Light, Phosphorus, &c. Burning, in antiquity, was a fpecies of fepulture or burial, ufed by the Greeks, Romans, and northern nations, and frill retained by many people in both Indies. Vid. Pott. Archaeol. 1. 4. c. 6. Kenn. Rom. Ant Not. P. 2. 1. 5. c. 10. Philof. Tranf. N° 126. p. 633. Hougbt. Colled. T. 2. N° 332, & 335. Sahtmth. ad Pancirol. P. I. tit. 62. p. 339. Meurf. de Funer. Groec. c. 25. See the article Burial. In this fenfe, burning flands oppofed to burying a j tho 1 , after burning, the bones remaining, and afhes, have been ufually col- lected into urns, and depofited in the earth b . — [ a Plot, Nat. Hift. Oxf. c. 10. §. 43. p. 331. b Pitifc. Lex. Ant. T. 2. p. 341. voc. Offlegium. Phil. Tranfadt. N° 285. p. 1405.] See the articles Burying, Bone, &c.
Kings were burnt in cloth made of the abfeftos ftone, that their afhes might be preferved pure from any mixture with the fuel, and other matters thrown on the funeral pile c . And the like ufage is ftill retained for the princes in Tartary . — [ c Plin. Hift. Nat. 1. ig. c. 1. Mem. Acad. Infer. T. 6. p. 419, feq. d Phil. Tranf. N° 172. p. 1059.] Seethe article Aesestos, Cycl. and Suppl.
Burning is not fo antient among the Greeks as interring ; tho' we find it obtained in the time of the Trojan war. The an- tient chriftians, in tin's, deviated from the method of the hea- thens, that the generality of the 'latter burned their dead, where- as the former buried them in earth. Potter, Archa;ol. 1. 4, c. 6. T. 2. p. 207.
For the manner of burning among the Greeks : The body was placed on the top ofapile, wypa, on which werealfo thrown di- vers animals, and even flaves and captives, beftdes unguents and perfumes. In the funeral of Patroclus, we find a number of fheep and oxen thrown in, then four horfes, followed by two dogs, and, laftly, by twelveTrojan prifoners. Horn. Iliad, xxiii. v. 166. Pott. Archasol. 1. 4. c. 6. p. 208, feq. The like is mentioned by Virgil in the funerals of his Trojans; where, befides oxen, fwine, and all manner of cattle c , we find eight youths condemned to the flames f . The firft thing was the fat of the beafts, with which the body was covered, that it might confume the fooner s ; it being reputed great felicity to be quickly reduced to afhes. For the like reafon, where num- bers were to be burnt at the fame time, care was taken, that fome of humid conftitutions, and therefore eaftly to be in- flamed, mould be mixed with the reft h . Thus we are allur- ed by Plutarch and Macrobius, that for every ten men it was the cuftom to put in one woman '. — [ c Virg. JEn. 1. n. f Idem, 1. 1 0. 2 Eujlatb. ad Iliad. loc. cit. h Potter, loc. cit. p. 209, i Plut. Sympof. 1. 3. Quad!. 4. Macrob. Sa- turn. 1. 7. c. 7.]
Soldiers ufually had their arms burnt with them k . The gar- ments worn by the living ', were alfo thrown on the pile, with other ornaments and prefents ; a piece of extravagance, which the Athenians carried to fo great a length, that fome of their lawgivers were forced to reftrain them, by fevere penalties, from defrauding the living by their liberality to the dead ■". — [ k Virg. ./En. 1. 6. Decorantque fuper fulgcnlibus armis. i Idem, ibid. Purpureafque fuper vejleis, velamina, cmjiciunt. m Potter, lib. cit. p, 210.] See the article Burial.
Pliny aflures us, that burning was firft brought into ufe among the Romans, on occafion of the cruel ufage which the bodies of the dead Romans underwent in enemies countries Q . But thefe mull only be underftood in regard of the common ufage ; ftnee we find mention of burning as pradtifed by fome even in the earlieft ages of Rome : Numa forbad his own body to be burned, commanding it to be laid entire in a ftone coffin, which fhews, that the practice of burning was not then un- known at Rome °. — [ n Plin. Hift. Nat. 1. 7. c. 54. ° Kenn. Rom. Ant. Not. P. 2. 1.5. c. 10. p. 335] Some pretend, that the Romans borrowed the method of burn- ing from the Barbarians, particularly the Weftphalians, among whom the ufage was raoft antient, and fo firmly rooted, that Charlemaign had much ado, with the fevereft penalties, to put a ftop to it. Trev. Diet. Univ. T. 4. voc. IVeJlphaliens, But 'tis more probable they had received the method long before from the Greeks. Kenn, ubi fupra, p. 334, feq.
In fome cafes, burning was exprefsly forbid, and looked upon as the higheft impiety. Thus infants, who died before the breeding of teeth, were intombed, unburnt, in the ground, in a particular place fet apart for this ufe, called fuggrundarium. The like was praciifed with regard to thofe who had been ftruck dead with lightening, who were never to be burnt again. Kenn, ubi fupra.
Some fay, that burning was denied to fuicides as a puniftiment. Hougbt. Collect. N° 332. p. 358.
The manner of burning among the Romans, was not unlike that of the Greeks : the corps being brought without the city, if they defigned to burn it, was carried directly to the place ap- pointed for that purpofe ; which, if it joined to the fepulcbre, was called bujlum, if feparate from it, ujlrina, and there laid on the rogus ovpyra, a pile of wood prepared to burn it on, built in fhape of analtar, but of different height, according to the quality of the deceafed. The wood ufed was commonly from fuch trees as contained molt pitch or rofin; and if any other were ufed, they fplit it for the more eafy catching fire : round the pile they fet cyprefs trees, probably to hinder the uoifome fmell of the corple. The body was not placed on the bare pile, but on the couch or bed where it lay on p. This done, the next of blood performed the ceremony of lighting the pile, which they did with a torch, turning their face all the while the other way q, as if it were done with reluctance r * During the ceremony, decurfions and games were celebrated ; after which came the ojjilegium, or gathering the bones and afhes j alfo warning and anointing them, and reporting them in urns; which were common to both nations * — [ p tibulU 1. I. Eleg. I. Flebis & arfuro pojitum ?:ie, Delia, k£lo. 1 Virg. JEn. 1. 6. Subjectam, more parentum, cruerji ienuere faecm. ' Kenn. Rom. Ant. P. 2. \. 5. c. 10. p. 355, feq. s Vide Potter, lib. cit. p. 21 1, feq. Kenn, ubi fupra, p. 357, feq.J 'Tis commonly fuppofed the practice of burning ceafed at Rome under the empire of the Antonines.
Gothofred takes it for a miltake, not only by reafon Tertul- Han fpeaks of it as ftill cultomary among the heathens in his time, but becaufe there is fome intimation given of it in Theo- dofius's laws [ , as fubfilUng then : though it was not long after till it was totally difufed ; fince Macrobius, who lived early in the fourth century, aflures us, that the method of burning was then entirely difufed u . — [< Cod. Theod. 1. 9. tit. 17. leg. 6; u Macrob. Saturn. 1. 7. c. 7.] urning is one of the methods ufed for the deftrudtion of books.
The antient fathers procured the writings of the heathens to be burnt, out of zeal for religion ; to the great detriment not only of learning but religion itfelf a . The Talmud was pub- lickly burnt by pope Gregory IX. in 1230, and, after his ex- ample, by other popes, and kings of France b . Schulz has a treatife exprefs on burnhig the books of heretics c . — [ a Vide Sbaftesb. Charact. T. 3. p. 329, feq. b Wolf. Bibl. Hebr. 1. 4. c. 5. T. 2. p. 932. c Thurman. Bibl. Acad. p. 119.] Under king Henry IV. a proclamation was published for burn- ing the Englifh bible, left the ignorant multitude fhould from it extract p6ifon for their fouls. Vid. Stepb. Suppl. to Dugd. T, 2. p. 103.
Dioclefian is faid to have burnt the chemical books of the an- tient Egyptians, wherein the art of making gold was contain- ed, to prevent the people from growing too rich, and being thereby brought to rebel. Vid. Borricb. de Orig. Chem.
P . 89.
The emperor Chi-Hoam-Ti, 230 years before Chrift, burnt all the books of the Chinefe, -except thofe relating to agricul- ture, phyfic, and divination ; obliging the literati, in lieu of ftudy, to take to the trewel, and work at the famous wall then erecting againft the Tartars; as only needing two kinds of peo- ple, foldiers and mafons. Vid. Phil. Tranf. N° 230. p. 589. Mem. Acad. Infer. T. 9. p. 357, feq.
Burning is alfo an operation in pharmacy. Simples are fre- quently burnt in carth-veflels, either to reduce them to afhes, as in the preparation of vegetable falts, or in order to dry them, that they may be more commodioufly pulverized, as is practifed in regard of hartfhora, &c. Cafl. Lex. Med. p. 75. voc. XJJlk.
Burning, VJlio, in chemiftry, is diftinguifhed from calcining ; as the former is performed in clofe velfels, and terminates in charring, or reducing the body to a blacknefs; whereas-the latter turns them white, being performed in the open air. Vid. Junck. Confp. Chem. Tab. 27. p. 5 77> 5 8 2> and 588. Sec the article Calcination, Cycl. and Suppl. It alfo differs from roafting, tojlio, as, in burning, the fire is ap- plied in contact with the body, in roafting, at a diftance from it. See the article Roasting.
A dexterous burning volatilizes falts, as common fait, fal alkali. Burning alfo produces fomewhat of a mineral fulphur out of tartar, Cifc. Junck. ibid. p. 596.
Burning ofmetah, Vjlio metalkrum, is either performed bv fire, or by corrofive falts; which latter is alfo denominated camen~ taiion. Theat. Chem. T. 3. p. 470. Rolfink. Chem, 1. 2. c. 3. Seethe article Cementation, Cycl. The firft preparation of moft ores is by uftion, or burning, whereby to difpofe them for fufion. This is ufually performed by expofing them, without addition, to a naked fire ; fome- 2 times
