BLACK, also a canonical color, is a symbol of death and of the mourning and sorrow inspired by death. Therefore it is only used in the Church on Good Friday, to symbolize the sorrow and despair of the Christian community at the death of Christ, a sorrow soon to be turned to joy by His glorious resurrection. [Illustration: FRONTISPIECE OF THE “VESTITUS SACERDOTUM HEBRÆORUM,” OF JOHANN BRAUN, AMSTERDAM, 1680. The vignettes at the top illustrate the source of the materials of the vestments, etc.; as the nopal, source of the cochineal insect; gold-thread; linen; a sheep for wool; Tyre and the purple murex. The other vignettes show separate parts of the high-priest’s attires and in the centre appear two figures of the high-priest, each garbed in different sets of vestments.] VIII On the High-Priest’s Breastplate Very early, and very naturally, the religious nature of man led to the use of precious stones in connection with worship—the most valuable and elegant objects being chosen for sacred purposes. Of this mode of thought, we have a striking instance in the accounts given, in the book of Exodus, of the breastplate of the High-priest, and the gems contributed for the tabernacle by the Israelites in the wilderness. Another religious association of such objects is their use to symbolize ideas of the Divine glory, as illustrated in the visions of the prophet Ezekiel and in the description of the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation. Apart from such legitimate uses, however, gems have become associated with all manner of religious fancies and superstitions, traces of which appear in the Talmud, the Koran, and similar writings; they have also been dedicated to various heathen deities. Even in modern times, some trace of the same ideas remains in the ecclesiastical jewelry and its supposed symbolism. In the vision of Ezekiel i, 26, and in a brief allusion to the similar appearance of the God of Israel in Exodus xxiv, the throne of Jehovah, or the pavement beneath his feet, is compared to a sapphire, and the Apostle John, in the Apocalypse, describes the Great White Throne as surrounded by a rainbow like an emerald. The Rabbinical writings, instead of the simple grandeur of these biblical comparisons, give us many fanciful ideas. The stones of the breastplate are here represented as sacred to twelve mighty angels who guard the gates of Paradise, and wondrous tales are told of the luminous gems in the tent of Abraham and the ark of Noah. Mohammedan legend represents the different heavens as composed of different precious stones, and in the Middle Ages these religious ideas became interwoven with a host of astrological, alchemistic, and medical superstitions. The following is the description of the breastplate given in Exodus (xxviii, 15-30):