1740, tom 1, p. 430] the following remarks, freely translated by the
writer, may be found, which note a custom having great similarity to
the exposure of bodies to wild beasts mentioned above.

"The ancient Persians threw out the bodies of their dead on the roads,
and if they were promptly devoured by wild beasts it was esteemed a
great honor, a misfortune if not. Sometimes they interred, always
wrapping the dead in a wax cloth to prevent odor."

M. Pierre Muret, [Footnote: Rites of Funeral, Ancient and Modern,
1683, p 45] from whose book Bruhier probably obtained his information,
gives at considerable length an account of this peculiar method of
treating the dead among the Persians, as follows:

"It is a matter of astonishment, considering the _Persians_ have
ever had the renown of being one of the most civilized Nations in the
world, that notwithstanding they should have used such barbarous
customs about the Dead as are set down in the Writings of some
Historians, and the rather because at this day there are still to be
seen among them those remains of Antiquity, which do fully satisfie
us, that their Tombs have been very magnificent. And yet nevertheless,
if we will give credit to _Procopius_ and _Agathias_, the
_Persians_ were never wont to bury their Dead Bodies, so far were
they from bestowing any Funeral Honours upon them. But, as these
Authors tell us, they exposed them stark naked in the open fields,
which is the greatest shame our Laws do allot to the most infamous
Criminals, by laying them open to the view of all upon the highways:
Yea, in their opinion it was a great unhappiness, if either Birds or
Beasts did not devour their Carcases; and they commonly made an
estimate of the Felicity of these poor Bodies, according as they were