'for washing of an awbe and an amyce parteȳing to the vestments of the garters and flour de lice and for sewing on of the parelles of the same, vᵈ' —tells us what we should have expected, that the apparels had to be removed from the vestment when it was washed, and sewn on again afterwards. It was only natural that some such plan as the loose suspension of the apparels should be followed; for the constant ripping off and sewing on of the embroidery must have been not only laborious, but ultimately detrimental to the vestment. This entry gives us an instance of another fact, that vestments and suits of vestments were named after the pattern which was embroidered upon their apparels. A singular collection occurs in the Peterborough inventory, including '6 albes with Peter keys. '6 albes called the Kydds. '7 albes called Meltons. '6 albes called Doggs.' Albs were sometimes worn plain, _i.e._, without apparel. The Salisbury Missal, for example, forbids the apparelled alb to be worn on Good Friday; and it is not at all impossible that some of the plain albs, as represented on early monuments, are really intended for unadorned vestments. Some difference of opinion seems to exist among the authorities about the mystical signification of this vestment. Rabanus Maurus holds it to inculcate purity of life. Amalarius of Metz, contrasting Jerome's description of the tight-fitting Jewish tunic with the flowing alb of his own day, considers that it denotes the liberty of the New Testament dispensation as contrasted with the servitude of the Old. Pseudo-Alcuin thinks that it means perseverance in good deeds, and that therefore Joseph is described as wearing a _tunica talaris_ among his brethren. 'For a tunic which reaches all the way to the ankles is a good work carried out to the end, for the ankle is the end of the body.' Ivo of Chartres asserts that it signifies the mortification and chastisement of the members. Honorius of Autun agrees more or less with Rabanus Maurus; but Innocent III regards it as symbolical of newness of life, 'because it is as unlike as possible to the garments of skins which are made from dead animals, and with which Adam was clothed after his fall.' The following dimensions are among those given by Mrs Dolby as the correct measurements of an alb for a figure of medium height and ordinary proportions: ft. in. Length behind when made 4 9 Length before 4 5 Depth of shoulder-band 0 8½ Width of same 0 1¼ Length of sleeve, outside of arm 2 1½ Width of sleeve at wrist folded in two 0 6½ Width of sleeve half-way up 0 9½ Length of neck-band 2 2½ Width of same 0 1¼ Opening down front 1 1½