LIBERTY

In Philosophy. See Nece ity. LIBITIN A. An Italian godde , patrone of funerals and undertakers; synonymous with the Venus Infera or Epithambia of the Greeks. She had a temple at Rome, in which was deposited a small coin, called Lib it in a i ratio, for every person who died. This custom, which originated in the desire of the Roman authorities to procure a faithful account of the number of deaths, may, perhaps, be regarded as among the first attempts to obtain an accurate census of the population. [s. 672]