74 THE TYRIAN PURPLE. 



tlie Chinese make use of a similar dye ; and in the new 

 world, according to Don Antonio de Ulloa, the inhabitants 

 of the provinces Guayaquil and Guatimala have, time out 

 of memory, procured it from certain conchs or sea-snails 

 about the size of small nuts, or a little larger. The colour 

 is in great estimation among them from its scarcity ; "and, 

 indeed, there is hardly any thing dyed with it but laces, 

 borders, fringes, and such like works."* 



The scarcity of the colouring liquid, and the discovery of 

 cochineal, have rendered the Tyrian purple valueless as an 

 object of commerce. Dr. Bancroft thinks it might still be 

 rendered beneficial in staining or printing fine muslins, for 

 which little colouring matter- is required ; and Mr. Montagu 

 strongly recommends it for the purpose of marking linen, 

 since the colour grows brighter by washing, and cannot, so 

 far as is known, be removed by any chemical agent. It in 

 fact excels all animal colours in durability and unchange- 

 ableness, as well as in the simplicity of its application. " It 

 is strictly and preeminently," says Dr. Bancroft, " entitled 

 to the distinction of a substantive colour, as it may be per- 

 manently fixed, even upon linen and cotton, by the most 

 simple application, and without any preparation or admix- 

 ture whatever ; and it is admirable for the singular constancy 

 with which it proceeds through the series of intermediate 

 colours (according to their prismatic arrangement), until it 

 has permanently fixed itself, and attained that purple tint 

 which the Author of nature, for some unknown purpose, has 

 fitted it to display ; and all this in spite, if I may so express 

 myself, of many powerful chemical agents, whose utmost 

 influence extends only to retard, for a few hours, the ulti- 

 mate accomplishment of this its destiny," f The changes 

 alluded to in this passage are these : the fluid, when in the 

 living animal and on its first extraction, is cream-coloured, 

 or, as Reaumur has happily said, it has the appearance and 

 consistence of well-formed pus. When applied to the cloth, 

 it appears at first of a pleasant light green colour, and being 

 exposed to the light the green gradually increases in inten- 

 sity, from a deep green to a full sea-green ; then it passes 

 to a watchet blue, which soon acquires a tint of red, and at 



* Gent. Mag. xxiii. 461. — "There is one further particular relating to 

 this shell-fisli whicli is very remarkable, and that is, that its weight and the 

 colour of its juices are different at different hours of the day ; and that there 

 is a certain hour when tlie weight of the fish is the greatest, and the colour 

 in the highest perfection ; and this is so well known to the dealers in this 

 commodity at Nicoya, that the hour when the fish is to be weighed and 

 delivered is always ^particularly mentioned in the bargains and contracts." 



f On Permanent Colours, i. 168. 



