Symbolism Of Colour.

the Egyptian Court we meet a transparent lightness of decoration which gives to its ponderous sculpture an appearance at once gay and brilliant-. The temperament of the children of Misraim seems to have been dreamy ancl spiritual ; that of the Assyrian , like their colours , was more earthy ancl coarse ; ancl in the latter their broad staring effects of colour correspond to the comparative clumsiness of their contours .

We have now seen how small so far the sum of colom-s introduced into these buildings ; but properly blended and heightened they were not incapable of the most gorgeous effects . The Alhambra court with all its splendour is but the result of the three heraldic tints , azure , gules , and gold ( or ) and the sacred colom-s jn-escribed by the Almighty to the

Israelites are similar , if we take purple and scarlet as its subtints to represent reel . Thus Exodus , xxviii . 6 : — " Ancl they shall make the ephod of gold , of blue , and of purple ancl scarlet , ancl of fine twined linen with cunning work . " The same injunction is repeated , Exodus xxxv . 25 , for the garments of the priests—and xxxvi . 8 ; xxxix . 5 , 24 , 29 , for the curtains ofthe tabernacle .

It is these three tints which appeal- solely according to the authority of Mr . Owen Jones in the decoration ofhis Grecian temples , ancl no doubt it was ascribable to the influence of Grecian art , that these are the colours which Mr . Di gby Wyatt , on the authority of the Pompeian discoveries , uses exclusivel y in the reproduction of the ' Pompeian court ;

though occasionally the Etruscan influence of li ght greens and purples are discernible , but rarely . A tri plicity of tint seems , however , to have formed a standard of symbolism through all ages ; so that even tho Catholic church restricts the use by its priests in their sacred vestments to this number solel y , though white is added , and , being called a colour , makes the number of ritual colours four , as we learn from Duranclus , iii . 18 : —

Quatuor sunt priiicipales colores quibus secundum proprietates dicruui « icras vestes ecclesia distinguit , albis , rubeus , m ' ger , viridis —nam in legalibus indnmentis ( under the old law ) quatuor colores niduisse leguntur , byssus , purpura , jacynthus , et coccus . " Their symbolism is distinctly marked by their prescribed use for particular masses . White vestmentare used on the festivals of holconfessors

, y and _ virgins which be not martyrs , on account of their integrity aud innocence . Jovinus Torrenfcius , in his hymn on the Innocents , sings beautifully , "De puero Jesu" ( p . 03 , editio Amstelod . 1576 , 12 mo . ) , ancl their beauty must be an apology for a lengthened extract : —

Vos pi-fcter omnes , lingua , quern fari ncquit Fuso professes sanguine Ergo supremi parte cccli lactea Qua , lucidum fidget via Qua picta dulci stillat uva nectare Qua nectar exhalent rosic . Herous auto et ante auctos purpura C ' colestis aukc rinci

p pes , Lreti eoronis luditis et insigniuni itfixti piiejlaruni choi-is Sacrum cauentcs iti . s aguum candido Quacunque prcecedat pede , At gaudet ille , gandet iimoeeu . s . sun Qui morte mortem vieerit : Vietorquc clausi ruperit seras poli Potente eunctis

regia Qui mitis aut ut agnus aut blandus puer Sine fraudc vitain auxerint . " . For the above reasons white vestments are used in the festivals ofthe angels ; at the Nativity to the E piphany , with the exception of the three intervening martyrdoms of St .

Stephen , the hol y Innocents , and Thomas a Becket . White is indispensable at the Purification of the Virgin , and on Easter Sunday , but more especially at Pentecost , which thence received ancl has retained , the name of Whit or AVhite Sunday . The Romans used the same colour during their sacrifices to their superior gods . Cicero ( Do Legibus , ii . )

Symbolism Of Colour.

says : " Color albus prcecipue decorus Deo est , turn in cceteris , turn maxime in textili . " Scarlet vestments are used on the festivals of the apostles , evangelists , and martyrs , on account of the blood of their passion which they shed for Christ . " Some use red from the vigil of Pentecost to Trinity Sunday inclusively , on

account ofthe fervour of the Holy Ghost , for there appeared unto them divers tongues of fire . " Black has a rare and solemn license for its use on Good Friday , when every ornament of the sacred edifice is shrouded in black , and the paintings veiled with sable . It is also used on days of abstinence and afflictionand

when-, ever the Roman pontiff walks in procession barefooted . For the Innocents it i . s a question whether black be most suitable to tho mournful occasion , or red , in sympathy with these earliest martyrs ; though , as regards themselves , the white , as above , remains the most apposite and symbolical of their innocence . A curious reason is given for the use of

black in masses of requiem and from Septuagesima to Easter as commemorative of the expression , Canticles i . 5 : " My spouse saith , I am black , but comely . " Green seems the residuary colour whicli is used when the church has none other of the above three specially appointed , and is not , therefore , mentioned , or at least rarely , in the

common Roman Catholic almanacs ofthe present time ; but the reason assigned is curious ancl scarcely defensible , because green is an intermediate colour between black , white and red , ancl we are curious to know if our painters acknowledge it as such , A very corrupt passage of Durand gives some relations of other colours to the foregoing , which are hardly

cognizable— " Ad hos quatuor colores ceteri refernntur , scilicet ad rnbeum colorem coccineus , ad nigrum violaceus qui aliter coccus vocatur : ad album byssiueus : ad viridein croceus quanquam nonulli rosas ad martyros crocum a . d confessores et lilium ad vergines referunt . '' In the Roman Catholic Almanack for 1846 the jwrple is frequently indicated as the colour for the days marked Feriie .

The Savans In Scotland.

THE SAVANS IN SCOTLAND .

THE proceedings of the British Association were brought to a close at Aberdeen last week , after a very interesting series of papers had been read ancl discussed . The Prince Consort , who has attended several of the sittings , conveyed the Queen ' s commands to the members of the society to partake of her majesty ' s hospitality at Balmoral—a requisition which was obeyed by two hundred gentlemen .

During the congress the association has devoted several grants of money to the investigation of scientific subjects . The following is a list of the investigators chosen , the topics they are to treat , and the sums of money they are to receive towards their expenses : —To the Kew Observatory , £ -300 ; to Prof Sullivan"Solubility of Salts" . £ 30 ; to Prof .

, , Voelcker , " Constituents of Manures , " £ 25 ; to Mr . A . Gages , " Chemico-Mechanieal Analysis of Rocks , £ 25 ; to Dr . A . Smith , " Scientific Evidence in Courts of Law , " £ 10 ; to R , Mallet , " Earthquake Waves , " £ 2-5 ; to Rev . Dr . Anderson , "Excavations in Yellow Sandstone of Dura Den /' £ 20 ; to Sir R . I . Murchisou , " Fossils in Upper Silurian Rocks ,

Lesmahago , " £ 15 ; to R . M- Andrew , " General Dredging , " £ 50 ; to Dr . Ogiivie , " Dredging North ancl East Coasts of Scotland , " £ 25 ; to Prof . Kinahan , "Dred ging in Dublin Bay , " £ 15 ; to Dr . Daubony , " Growth of Plants , " £ 10 ; to Prof . Allman , "Report on Hydroid Zoophytes , " £ 10 ; to Dr . Wilson , "Colour Blindness / ' £ 10 ; to Admiral Moorsom ,

"Steam Vessels' Performance , " . £ 150 ; ancl to Prof . JThomson , " Discharge of Water , " £ 10 ; making altogether a total of £ 930 . Tho business of the session having come to a conclusion , the assembled philosophers on Thursday posted over to Balmoral , to pay their loyal respects to their sovereign . The invitation was originally limited to the members of the