CATACOMB • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Catacomb

... myrrh, olibanum, and other gum-resins, nearly all of which are still in use by the manufacturers of odors. Among the curiosities shown at Alnwick Castle is a vase that was taken from an Egyptian catacomb. It is full of a mixture of gum-resin, &c., which evolve a pleasant odor to the present day, although probably 3000 years old. We have no doubt that the original use of this vase and its contents were for perfuming apartments, in the same ...

— The Art of Perfumery - And Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants • G. W. Septimus Piesse

... Harbor refuge was a catacomb, the entrance of which was cunningly contrived by way of a well. It has been maintained in a fair state of preservation, and the curious visitor may to-day tread its labyrinths to the assembly hall, where, without doubt, occurred ...

— The Iron Heel • Jack London