CORRESPONDENCE. 



Tlie Catacom bs of the Capiicliiu Monks. 



One of the sights of Rome, which 

 the medical man should not fail to 

 see, is the burial place of the Capu- 

 chin monks in* the church or rather 

 beneath the church of Ara Coeli. 

 The accompanying illustration rep- 

 resents a portion of one of several 

 sec. ions of the catacombs. In it 

 the reader will recosrnize the skulls 



graves. This ground is sacred for 

 the earth was brought from Jeru- 

 salem and, because of the limited 

 space, the body longest buried must 

 give place to the last buried and 

 his bones will then contribute to 

 the artistic decorations of the 

 apartment. It is of these cata- 

 combs that Mark Twain writes in 

 "The New Pilgrims' Progress" and 



A CORNER 0.? THE CHAPEL OF THE O VPUCHIN MONKS IN THE CATACOMBS OF RuME 



and various bones of the skeleton 

 artistically arranged to form the 

 altar, chandelier, ceiling, decora- 

 tions and the partition wall separat- 

 ing this section from that adjoin- 

 ing. In the partition are four 

 niches occupied by grinning mum- 

 mies robed in the brown garb of 

 the order and holding in their 

 hands the crucifix these are the 

 saintly remains of the prominent 

 members of the order. In the open 

 space below are double rows of 



from his description we will quote 

 some of his observations: "There 

 were six divisions in the apartment, 

 and each division was ornamented 

 with a style of decoration peculiar 

 to itself and these decorations 

 were in every instance formed of 

 human bones ! There were shapely 

 arches, built wholly of thigh bones; 

 there were startling pyramids, 

 built wholly of grinning skulls; 

 there were quaint architectural 

 structures of various kinds, built of 



