t 2 7 3 
, Lacrvmatoriis. 
Thefe were fmall Glafs or earthen Bottles chiefly 
in the Form of Phials. At the Roman Funerals, 
the Friends of the deceafed, or the (Pr*fic<e) Wo¬ 
men hired for that Purpofe, ufed to fill them with 
their Tears, and depofue them very carefully with 
the Allies, in Teftimony of their fincere Sorrow •, 
imagining the Manes of the departed were thereby 
greatly comforted. There are many Specimens of 
them preferved in the Cabinets of the Curious, and 
here in particular. 
What now claim our Regard, are many earthen 
fepulchral Lamps of various Forms; they are 
ufually met with in the old Monuments near the 
Urns, and in the Catacombs at Rome , in Naples 
and Sicily. 
It has been fometimes afierted, that thefe Lamps 
have been found burning after having been buried 
for many Ages ■ but it cannot be fuppofed that 
they were really burning from the Time they were 
there depofited till they were found, as it is well 
known that Fire is foon extinguished by the want 
of Air-, and if it has Air, the Fuel that fupplies it 
muft wafte and decreafe in Quantity, let it be of 
what Nature it will : the molt reafonahle Conjec¬ 
ture, therefore, is, that the Rufb, Cotton, or Wick 
of thefe Lamps was impregnated with a kind 
of Phofphorus that would take fire as foon as the 
Air had Liberty to operate on it. Some, who 
maintain they were conftantly burning, conjecture, 
that the Wick was made of the Filaments of 
Aibeftos, which Fire would not confume; and 
that the Oyl or Matter which fupplied it was of 
fuch 
