THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 438 
There are several sources from which we can gather in- 
formation regarding the details: of the breastplate. We have, 
of course, the Authorised and Septuagint Versions of the scrip- 
tures. Josephus, who was born about 37 A.D., and who from 
his position at one time as a Priest of the Temple and after- 
wards when writing his history at Rome under the patronage 
of the Emperor Vespasian, had ample opportunities of familiar- 
ising himself with the details of the Temple furnishings, has 
left us a detailed account of this important adjunct to the 
ritual of the Temple. The list of stones given by him agrees 
with that of the Septuagint version, except that he substitutes 
sardonux for sardion, and somewhat alters the order of arrange- 
ment. As Josephus wrote from actual knowledge of the breast- 
plate, we may conclude that the replica which was in use in his 
time is accurately described, and that the differences indicated 
had crept in during the making of new plates to take the place 
of those removed at various times by the different plunderers. 
One of the incidents mentioned by Josephus in his account of 
the destruction of Jerusalem ‘by Titus, of which he was -an eye- 
witness, is that a priest of the Temple was granted this life by 
Titus in reward for delivery to the Romans ‘the precious stones 
and a great number of precious vessels ‘that belonged to their 
sacred worship.” ‘The Latin version of the Bible, ‘known as ‘the 
Vulgate, was written about 400 A-D., by Husebius ‘Hieromymus, 
better known as Saint Jerome, who had access to old Hebrew 
manuscripts which have since been ost. 
Drawing together the lists as given by these different au- 
thorities, we find a remarkable agreement as to the identity 
of the stones, though there are discrepancies in such matters as 
the order of their arrangement. It should be remembered that 
a Hebrew writer would in making out his description begin 
with ‘the stone on ‘the right-hand and describe them in order 
from right to left, whereas .a western writer would follow the 
reverse order. It is easy to see how irregularities in ‘the des- 
cription might creep in through causes such as this. 
The lists as given by the four authorities mentioned may 
be tabulated :— 
ist Row. 
Auth. Vers. Sept. Vers. Josephus. Vulgate. 
Sardion Sardion ‘Sardonux Sardion 
Topazion Topazion Topazion Topazion , 
Anthrax Smaragdos Smaragdos Smaragdos 
