Accubation, a table posture, betwveen sitting and lying, invented by the Greeks and adopted by the Romans and Jews. About the low dining table were placed two or three long couches, furnished with more or less sumptuous draperies, on each of which lay usually three persons, on their left side, resting either their heads or elbows upon pillows, the feet of the first being behind the back of the seccnd, and those of the second behind that of the third. The middle place was considered the most honorable. Though this posture was at first considered immodest for Roman ladies, they soon indulged in it; but it was never permitted to children or persons of mean condition.

Accubation.