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Show FUNERAL NOTES. Tub Roman catacombs were originally origin-ally quarries. It is believed that some of them long antedate the foundation of the city. In course of time they became be-came so extensive that the whole capital capi-tal was undermined. Many nations have followed the practice prac-tice of placing-a coin in the mouth of the deceased to pay his way across the river that encircles Liades. Generally a coin of small value was deemed sufficient suffi-cient for this purpose. A TirrBETAN tribe keeps a regular ! watch over the cemeteries, and the I duty of the guard is to pray aloud whenever he sees a meteor. The belief-is belief-is that the shooting stars are evil spirits spir-its in search of the souls of the dead. There are over sixty catacombs known to exist in Rome or its immediate immedi-ate vicinity. The entire length of the passages that have been measured is five hundred and eighty miles, and it is estimated that from six million to fifteen fif-teen million dead are there interred. |