SECTION III. 6i 



But the cocheneal infecl, an American 

 produft, quite unknown to the antients, 

 which affords fo fine a fcaiiet dye, being 

 now got in quantities, and to be ufed, pre- 

 ferved, or dried, and at all feafons, makes It 

 hot only cheaper, but more ufeful ; and 

 therefore has now intirely overthrown this 

 rich or royal dye of antient times. 



However, authors {ay that it is flill in 

 fome ufe in the Spanifli America : we 

 have a fpecies of purple fhell-fi(h on the 

 coaftsof Somerfetfhire, Cornwall, and other 

 parts of England, alfo on feveral coafts 

 of France, and other parts of Europe ; 

 but no other ufe is made of them than to 

 mark linen, and no lixivium or art can 

 efface the colour. Mr. Cole gives a very 

 curious account of the Somerfetlhire Shells 

 in the Philofophlcal Tranfaftions * ; and 



* Phil. Tranf. N'' 178, table Hi. %, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 

 by Mr. William Cole of Brifiol. It is a while \X'in, 

 lying tranfverfely ia a little furrow or cleft, next to 



die 



