138 THE TYRIAN PURPLE. 



rating a stuff, which was at first amethystine, in a bath 

 of the Tyrian purple, so that they tint at first conchy- 

 lian, to facilitate the Tyrian tincture, which then be- 

 comes, as is said, softer and more agreeable." 



The price of these colours varied according to the 

 supply of animals ; but, in consequence of the small 

 quantity of juice extracted, and the long process of 

 dying, the purple was so dear that, in the time of 

 Augustus, one pound of wool dyed with the Tyrian 

 purple, could not be bought for thirty pounds. It is 

 supposed that the opulence of the city of Tyre was 

 much increased by the commerce of this costly dye. 



In 1686 the buccinum was found by Cole in great 

 plenty on some of the Irish shores, on that of Somer- 

 setshire, and on the opposite shores of South Wales. Its 

 juice was profitably employed to mark linen of a fine 

 durable crimson ; a small species was also found by 

 Jussieu on the French coast. Cole found the juice 

 of the buccinum, when taken out of the vein, to be 

 white and clammy ; and if it were then squeezed on 

 linen or silk, it immediately, on exposure to the sun, 

 acquired a pale yellowish green hue, then changed to 

 a blue, and lastly to a deep purple red. These changes, 

 though very rapid, were quicker or slower in proportion 

 to the heat of the sun. 



