“The next proceeding, indeed, was to collect what remained of the bones from the ashes, which was the duty of the mother of the deceased, or, if the parents were not living, of the children, and was followed by a new offering of tears. Some of the old writers speak of the difficulty of separating the remains of the burnt bones from the wood ashes, and we accordingly find them usually mixed together. When collected, the bones were deposited in an urn, which was made of various materials. The urn in Virgil was made of brass, or perhaps bronze. Instances are mentioned of silver, and even gold, being used for this purpose, as well as of marble; and those found in Britain are often of glass, but the more common material was earthenware. One of the performers in the ceremony, whose duty this was, then purified the attendants by sprinkling them thrice with water, with an olive branch (if that could be obtained), and the _præficæ_ pronounced the word _Ilicet_ (said to be a contraction of _Ire licet_, ‘you may go’). Those who had attended the funeral, thrice addressed the word _Vale_ (farewell) to the manes of the dead, and departed. A sumptuous supper was usually given after the funeral to the relatives and friends. “In the case of people of better rank, the body was burnt on the ground which had been purchased for the sepulchre, but for the poorer people there was a public burning-place, which was called the _ustrina_, where the process was probably much less expensive, and whence the urn, with the remains (_relliquiæ_) of the deceased, was carried to be interred. The tombs of rich families were often large and even splendid edifices, with rooms inside, in the walls of which were small recesses, where the urns were placed. None of the buildings remain in any Roman cemetery in our island, but we can hardly doubt that such tombs did exist in the cemetery of Uriconium, and that they were scattered along the side of the Watling Street. At one place at Uriconium the foundations of a small building were met with, which appeared to have consisted of an oblong square, with a rectangular recess behind, but the western portion of it has been destroyed by the process of draining. When opened, ashes and fragments of an urn were found in the enclosed space, so that it is not improbable that this may have been a tomb with a room. An inscribed stone, which was found not far from this spot, bears evidence, in the appearance of its reverse side and in its form, of having been fixed against a wall, probably over a door.” The urn was perhaps here interred beneath the floor of the room. In many cases the dead body was certainly burnt on the spot where it was to be buried. A square pit had been dug, on the floor of which the funeral pile had been laid. The fire had then been lit in the pit or grave, and the body consumed in its own grave. Remains of the timber of the funeral pile still remained in a pit of this kind at Uriconium, as it had sunk on