A strange practice attends the birth of a Burmese infant. “No sooner is the infant come to light, than an immense fire is lighted in the apartment, so large that a person can hardly approach it without experiencing considerable hurt. Yet the woman is stretched out before it; and obliged to support its action on her naked skin, which is often blistered from its effects as badly as if the fire had been actually made for this purpose. This treatment is persevered in for ten or fifteen days without intermission, at the end of which time, as it will be easily supposed, the poor woman is quite scorched or blackened.”[165] In their treatment of the sick, they are very absurd and unskilful, but at the same time, some of their remedies are good. Space will not permit me to speak of this subject, and I must refer to the copious accounts of Malcom, Sangermano, Crawfurd, and others. At the death of any one, the following ceremonies are observed.[166] The body is immediately washed and laid in a white cloth, and visits of condolence are paid by the connections and friends. While the family give themselves up to lamentation, these friends perform the office of preparing the coffin, assembling the musicians, getting betel and lapech, the pickled tea, which is given to every one on the occasion. Then a great store of fruit, cotton cloths, and money is prepared for distribution among the priests and the poor. This is effected by means of a burial club, which, strangely enough, is one of the institutions of this singular country. The body is then kept a day or two, after which the procession is formed in the following manner. First, the alms destined for the priests and poor are carried along; next, come the baskets of betel and lapech, borne by female priests dressed in white. These are followed by a procession of priests, walking two and two. When there is music, it usually comes next. Then the bier is carried along, borne by friends of the deceased. Immediately behind the bier comes the wives, children, and nearest relations, all dressed in white. The procession is closed by a concourse of people more or less connected with the departed person. Arrived at the place where the body is burnt, the senior priest delivers a sermon, consisting of reflections on the five secular commandments and the ten good works. At the conclusion of the sermon, the coffin is delivered to the burners of the dead, who set fire to it, while others distribute the alms to the priests and people. The burning, however, does not always take place. Persons that have been drowned, or have died of infectious diseases, are immediately interred.