BUR 



BUR 



plif nomcnon, anl wltli this view lie advances fcvciil hypo- 

 thefts, ttliitli it is iKcdUf-i to detail, si tlie fafts arc not luf- 

 ficifiilly n iiiiK roil s nor wrll l^nosvii to admit of tllablidiing a 

 fat'.sfaClory ilK'ory conccmiiiLj the fpontaneoiis combn(lio;i 

 of human bodies. The autlior, however, appears to attri- 

 bute it to a particular Hate of the fat produced by fpirituoiis 

 liquors; and he fo'.iiids hij opinion principally on the pecu- 

 liar corpult nee of tlie perfoiis who have fallen victims to 

 thefc accidentfi, and on the obfervation that has bt-en made, 

 that the parts which were not fo fat, fiich as the extremi- 

 ties of the head, have cfcaped. And, lailly, he fnpports hi-, 

 theory by the well known faft of the fpoiitaneons eon.ibul- 

 tion of a mixture of animal foot and linfeed oil, which is a 

 mixture limilar to that of a fat body containing ch.arcoal in 

 a very minute l\ate of divifion. 



liVRMNG is alfo a denomination jjiven by phyficians to 

 divers dilorders, on account of a fenlation of heat that at- 

 tends them. In whieii ienle we fay a biinihi^ fever. See 

 Cai'sus. 



Among the divers fpecies of madiirfs incident to dogs, 

 one is called the biini'iii^ nia:!iiefs. If a mare which has 

 been covered, and the colt knit within her, be covered by 

 anotlier horfe, he is faid to burn her. 



Buss ISO is more particularly ufcd for the licipcs, or 

 i^iiis facer, called erysipelas and arfura. 



Burning, among Surgeons, denotes the application of an 

 a£tual cautery, that is, a red-hot iron inftrnment, to the part 

 affeiSed ; oLherwifc denominated cauterization. See Cau- 

 tery. 



Burning, in A-tUquityf was a piaftice much ufcd by the 

 Greeks, Romans, and northern nations ; and Hill retained 

 by many people in both Indies, with refped. to their dead. 

 See Burial. 



In this fenfc, hurniu;^ (lands oppofitc to burying ; though, 

 after burning, the bones remaining, and afhes, have been 

 uf'Xilly collecled into urns, and depolited in the earth. 



Burning is not fo ancient among the Greeks as interring ; 

 though we find it cbtaintd in the time of the Trojan war : 

 and it is reported by the fcholiaft on Ilomer (Hind, a.) to have 

 been firll introduced by Hercules. At and after the Tro- 

 jan war, burning was generally praftifcd by the Grecians ; 

 infomuch that when Lucian (De Luftu) enumerates the 

 various methods ufed by different nations in the difpofal of 

 their dead, he cxprefsly affigns burning to the Greeks, and 

 interment to the Perlians. Socrates in Plato's Phoedon, 

 mentions both cuftoms : and it appears, that fome of them 

 confidered the cuftom of burning as cruel and inhuman ; 

 whence a poet, cited by Enllaihius (11. a.) introduces a 

 pcrfon, exclaiming againft, and calling out upon Prometheus 

 to hafte to his affiilance, and fteal, if pofTible, from mortals 

 the fire he had given them. Others afcribe the origin of 

 this practice, which prevailed very anciently, not only in 

 Afia, but in the wellern parts of the world, to refpeft and 

 fricndfhip for the deceafcd ; whofe adies they depofited in 

 urns, and prelerved with great care, and interred with funeral 

 honours. Potter. Arch. lib. iv. cap. 6. torn. ii. 



Kings were burnt in cloth made of the afbeftosftone, that 

 their adies miglit be preferved pure from any mixture with 

 the fuel, and other matters thrown on tlic funeral pile. 

 And the like ufage is ftill retained for the princes in 

 Tartary. 



Among the Greeks, the body was placed upon the top 

 of the pile, on which, were alfo thrown divers animals, and 

 even (laves and captives, befides unguents and perfumes. In 

 the funeral of Patroclus, we tind a number of flieep and 

 oxen thrown in, then four horfes, followed by two dogs, 

 and laftly, by twelve Trojan prifonei-s. Horn. II. xxiii. 

 6 



To this cudom of flaughtcring animals, and of condemn- 

 ing flaves or captives to the flames, on occafion of burning 

 the dead, Virgil alludes (iEii. x. 51S. xi. 82. xi. 197.); and 

 alio Cicero (Fiacc. .58.). Afterwards gladiators, denomi- 

 nated BulUiarii, (which fee,) were made to light, as a fub- 

 iUtute to human lacrificts. Thus alfo among the Gau's, 

 (laves and clients were burnt on the piles of their m-'.flers (fee 

 Crsf. Bell. Gall. vi. 17.): and among the Indians andTiiracians 

 wives were burnt on tlic piles of their Inifliands ; and if one 

 man iiad fevcral wives, there was fometimes a conted among 

 tlieni, which fhould be preferred, and the preference was de- 

 cided by lot. iElian. vii. ;8. Serv. in jEn. v. 95. A 

 limilar praclice has long chilled among the Brachmans of 

 India. See Brahmins. Thus among the Romans, friends 

 teftified their affeftion ; as Plotinus to his patron (Plin. 

 vii. 36.), Plautius to liis wife Oreflilla, (Val. Max. iv. 6. j.) 

 Soldiers to Otho (Tdcit. Hift. ii.49.), and Mnellcr, a freed- 

 maii, to Agrippina, (Tacit. Annal. xiv. y.) The body of 

 the deceafed was covered with the fat of beails, that it 

 might the fooner be confumed, it being regarded as a fingu- 

 lar blelfing to be (juickly reduced to aflies. For the fame 

 realon, when a number of bodies was arranged to be burnt 

 on tlie fame pile, tht y blended thofe of modi temperament, 

 and which were cafily inflamed, with others : and to this 

 purpofe Plutarch ( Sympof. 1. iii. Qiixd. 4. ), and Macro- 

 bins (Saturn. 1. vii. c. 7.) obfcrve, that to ten men it was 

 cullomary to add one woman. 



Soldiers ufually had their arms burnt with them.' The 

 garments worn by the living were alio thrown on the pile 

 with other ornaments and prefents ; a piece of extravagance, 

 which the Athenians carried to fo great a length, that forae 

 of their law-givers were forced to rellrain them, by fevere 

 penalties, from defrauding the living by their liberality to 

 the dead. 



The pile was fet on fire by fome of the nearcll relations, 

 who prayed and offered vows to the winds to aflill the flames, 

 that the body might be quickly confumed. While the 

 body was burning, in the cafe of celebrated commanders, 

 the foldiers and attendants expreffed their relpeft for the 

 dead by making a folemn procclFion three times round the 

 pile, accompanying their motions with Hiouts and found of 

 trumpet : and the friends of the deceafed Hood by the pile, 

 pouring forth libations of wine, and calling upon the de- 

 ceafed. Vi'heu the flames ceafed, the remains of the fire 

 were extinguifhed with wine, ar.d the bones and allies were 

 collected, lometimes walhed with wine and anointed wltli 

 oil, and fometimes enclofed with fat ; and then depofited in 

 urns of gold, filver, wood, (lone, or earth, according to the j 

 condition of the deceafed ; thofe of perfous of rank were * 

 adorned with flowers and garlands, and fometimes they were 

 covered with cloth till they were lodged in the earth. Ho- 

 mer. II. xxiii. xxiv. Virgil. jEn. vi. Potter, ubi fupra. 



The Romans, at firll, ufually interred their dead. See 

 Burial. But they adopted, at an early period, the cuftom 

 of burning from the Greeks (fee Plut. in Numa) ; and this 

 cuilom is mentioned in the laws of Numa, and of the twelve 

 tables (Cic. de leg. ii. 32.), but it did not become general, 

 till about the end of the republic. Sylla was the firll of the 

 patrician band of the " Gens Cornelia," that was burnt : 

 and he is fuppofed to have ordered it, left any one Ihould 

 dig up his body, and diffipate his remains, as he did thofe 

 of Marius. Pliny ( H. N. 1. viii. c. f,^.). 



Euftathi js afTigns two reafons for the prevalency of burn- 

 ing in Greece ; the firll, that bodies being thought to be 

 unclean after the foul's departure, were to be purified by 

 fire : and that the foul, or purer part, being feparated by 

 the flames, from the grofs inaftive matter, might take its 



flight 



