The Arab Ibn Forszlan, who was ambassador from his native land to the Russians in the year of our Lord 922, states that he attended the cineration of a man of rank, on the banks of the Volga River. Previous to the cremation the deceased was interred, till the robes of state requisite for the ceremony were finished. Then the ship of the dead was drawn ashore, the defunct owner placed upon a bench, which had been covered with gorgeous rugs, and supplied with food, intoxicating beverages, and a number of slaughtered animals. Thereupon a young girl, who had voluntarily offered herself for incremation (probably to be the companion of the deceased in the other world), was led aboard and—after singing a long chant to the people and drinking a goblet of mead—strangled and stabbed at the same time. Then the ship was deserted, and set afire by the nearest relative, who performed this sad office with averted face. Thereupon every one present threw a burning piece of wood upon the vessel, which was soon consumed. A mound was erected on the site on which the ship had stood, in the centre of which a plank was placed, bearing the name of the departed. Old German chroniclers mention the cremation of Attila, the king of the Tartar Huns, who was burned while sitting—fully armed—upon his war-horse. It is still an undecided question whether incineration was general among the Huns, or only a royal honor. The Scythians and Sarmatians of old reduced their dead to ashes, as also did the Kurds, till 1205 A.D.; and the Esthonians till 1225. Cremation was likewise practiced by the ancient Scandinavians,—more especially by the Norwegians and Swedes than by the Danes. The national Scandinavian epic, the Edda, mentions the funeral piles of Sigurdh and Brynhilde. The ancient Britons disposed of their dead by fire. Some workmen engaged in excavations in the bail within the boundaries of the old Roman city at Lincoln lately came across a crematorium and a sarcophagus. In the latter ten urns were found, which contained ashes and calcined bones. The urns were of different sizes and shapes, and were all provided with saucer-shaped covers. Only one of them, however, was extracted perfect. The interior of the sarcophagus was lined with long, thin bricks, that perished on being exposed to the air. The Mexicans of antiquity also cinerated their deceased. Incineration was practiced in India since the most remote ages, and is now as much in vogue in this country as it was in the earliest times. At Calcutta, Bombay, Madras,—in fact, all over India,—cremation is executed daily.