PERPETUAL OR EVER-BURNING LAMPS 



[ART of the sepulchral rites of the ancients con- 

 sisted in placing lighted lamps in the tombs or 

 vaults in which the dead were laid, and, in many 

 cases, these lamps were carefully tended and kept 

 continually burning. Some authors have claimed, how- 

 ever, that these men of old were able to construct lamps 

 which burned perpetually and required no attention. In 

 number 379 of the "Spectator" there is an anecdote of 

 some one having opened the sepulcher of the famous 

 Rosicrucius. There he discovered a lamp burning which 

 a statue of clock-work struck into pieces. Hence, says the 

 writer, the disciples of this visionary claimed that he had 

 made use of this method to show that he had re-invented 

 the ever-burning lamps of the ancients. And Fortunio 

 Liceti wrote a book in which he collected a large number 

 of stories about lamps, said to have been found burning in 

 tombs or vaults. Ozanam fills eight closely printed pages 

 with a discussion of the subject. 



Attempts have been made to explain many of the facts 

 upon which is based the claim that the ancients were able 

 to construct perpetual lamps by the suggestion that the 

 light sometimes seen on the opening of ancient tombs 

 may have been due to the phosphorescence which is well 

 known to arise during the decomposition of animal and 

 vegetable matter. Decaying wood and dead fish are familiar 

 objects which give out a light that is sufficient to render 

 dimly visible the outlines of surrounding objects, and such 



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