THE TYRIAN PURPLE. 



139 



On washinj^ the cloth with scalding water and soap, 

 and again exposing it to the sun, the colour changed to 

 a beautiful crimson, and then no further alteration took 

 place from any of the means usually employed to dry 

 colours. The linen marked with the white juice, always 

 yielded while drying for the first time, a strong smell, 

 resembling a mixture of garlic and assafoetida. A simi- 

 lar scent was attached to the purple of the ancients. A 

 knowledge of this fact is valuable. From not being 

 aware that the ancient purple was nearly our scarlet, 

 many readers, especially among the young, have been not 

 a little puzzled. The fact is, that the Tyrian purple, so 

 far from being one particular colour, was a class of ani- 

 mal dyes, as distinguished from vegetable, varying in 

 their shade, of which one peculiar tint of red was the 

 most esteemed. 



As it has been stated, that some of the gasteropoda 

 respire air, as the snail ; and others water, as the whelk, 

 the doris, etc., it will be expected that a great difference 

 must exist between the structure of the branchiae or 

 aerating organs in the one set of animals and in the 

 other. Beyond this, however, a great diversity obtains 

 in the structure of the branchiae of the aquatic races ; 

 and upon these differences Cuvier has established his 

 orders. Without attempting a full exposition of this 



