DYES. 348

from several varieties of shell-fish, comprehended under two
species: one (Buccinum) found in cliffs and rocks; and the
other (Purpura or Pelagia) which was the proper purple-
fish taken by fishing in the sea. These shell-fish were
found on the coasts of the Mediterranean and Atlantic, and
locally differed in the tint and value of the dye which they
furnished. The Atlantic shells afforded the darkest colour ;
those on the Italian and Sicilian coasts, a positive violet or
purple; and those of the Phcenician shore itself, and in
general the southern coasts of the Mediterranean, yielded
scarlet colour. The dyeing matter must have been very
expensive, as each fish only furnished a very minute quantity
of juice, pressed from a white vein or vessel in the neck,
and which could only be obtained while the animal was
alive*.”

The Purpura has a thick, oval shell, either smooth or
tuberculated; the spire is short. There are very many
recent species, and some fossil.

The “scarlet” is considered by some writers to be merely
a variety of the Tyrian purple, one of which nearly ap-
proached to a bright crimson or scarlet; but a dye of this
kind was certainly known in ancient times, obtained from

* Pictorial Bible.