446 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book IX. 



more, for the fresher they are, the greater virtue there is 

 in the liquor. It is then set to boil in vessels of tin,^^ and 

 every hundred amphorae ^^ ought to be boiled down to five hun- 

 dred pounds of dye, by the application of a moderate heat ; for 

 which purpose the vessel is placed at the end of a long funnel, 

 which communicates with the furnace; while thus boiling, 

 the liquor is skimmed from time to time, and with it the flesh, 

 which necessarily adheres to the veins. About the tenth day, 

 generally, the whole contents of the cauldron are in a liquified 

 state, upon which a fleece, from which the grease has been 

 cleansed, is plunged into it by way of making trial ; but until 

 such time as the colour is found to satisfy the wishes of those 

 preparing it, the liquor is still kept on the boil. The tint that 

 inclines to red is looked upon as inferior to that which is 

 of a blackish hue. The wool is left to lie in soak for five 

 hours, and then, after carding it, it is thrown in again, until it 

 has fully imbibed the colour. The juice of the buccinum 

 is considered very inferior if employed by itself, as it is found 

 to discharge its colour ; but when used in conjunction with 

 that of the pelagiae, it blends ^^ with it very well, gives a bright 

 lustre to its colour, which is otherwise too dark, and imparts 

 the shining crimson hue of the kermes-berry, a tint that is 

 particularly valued. By the admixture of their respective 

 virtues these colours are thus heightened or rendered sombre 

 by the aid of one another. The proper proportions for mixing 

 are, for fifty pounds of wool, two hundred pounds of juice of the 

 buccinum and one hundred and eleven of juice of the pelagiae. 



53 Because iron or brazen vessels might impart a tinge to the colour. 

 The same would probably be the case if the word " plumbo " were to be 

 considered as signifying " lead." As, however, Pliny uses this word w 

 the signification of " tin," it is most probable that that is his meaning, 

 Littre, however, translates the word "plombe," "lead." 



9^ Hardouin says, that the weight of the contents of the amphora wouk 

 be about eighty pounds : it would therefore take eight thousand pounds o 

 material,to make five hundred pounds of dye. The passage, however, whicl 

 runs as follows, " Fervere in plumbo, singulasque amphoras centenas a( 

 quingentenas medicaminis libras aequari," may be rendered, " It is ther 

 set to boil in vessels of tin, and every hundred amphorte of water ought t'. 

 be proportioned to five hundred pounds of the material ;" indeed, thi: 

 is probably the correct translation, though Littre, who is generally ver; 

 exact, adopts that given in the text. 



3^ " Alllgatur :" which word may also mean, that mixed with the hue 

 cinum, it will hold fast, and not speedily fade or wash out. 



