With the rise of the Christian church, candles came to be used in religious ceremonies and many of the symbolisms, meanings, and customs survive to the present time. Some of the finest art of past centuries is found in the old candlesticks. Many of these antiques, which ofttimes were gifts to the church, have been preserved to posterity by the church. The influence of these lighting accessories is often noted in modern lighting-fixtures, but unfortunately early art often suffers from adaptation to the requirements of modern light-sources, or the eyesight suffers from a senseless devotion to art which results in the use of modern light-sources, unshaded and glaring, in places where it was unnecessary to shade the feeble candle. The oldest materials employed for making candles are beeswax and tallow. The beeswax was bleached before use. The tallow was melted and strained and then cotton or flax fibers were dipped into it repeatedly, until the desired thickness was obtained. In early centuries the pith of rushes was used for wicks. Tallow is now used only as a source of stearine. Spermaceti, a fatty substance obtained from the sperm-whale, was introduced into candle-making in about 1750 and great numbers of men searched the sea to fill the growing demands. Paraffin wax, a mixture of solid hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum, came into use in 1854 and stearine is now used with it. The latter increases the rigidity and decreases the brittleness of the candle. Some of the modern candles are made of a mixture of stearine and the hard fat extracted from cocoanut-oil. Modern candles vary in composition, but all are the product of much experience and of the application of scientific knowledge. The wicks are now made chiefly of cotton yarn, braided or plaited by machinery and chemically treated to aid in complete combustion when the candle is burned. Their structure is the result of long experience and they are now made so that they bend and dip into the molten fuel and are wholly consumed. This eliminates the necessity of trimming. Candles have been made in various ways, including dipping, pouring, drawing, and molding. Wax-candles are made by pouring, because wax cannot be molded satisfactorily. Drawing is somewhat similar to dipping, except that the process is more or less continuous and is carried out by machinery. Molding, as the term implies, involves the use of molds, of the size and shape desired.