Geographical Distribution of the Shell-Purple Industry. 29 
real, and are due rather to lack of precise information, 
than to an entire absence of the art in certain places. 
I have been unable so far to trace any indication of 
this industry in the numerous islands of the Pacific.” 
Judging from the presence in these islands of other 
associated elements of culture, such as shell-trumpets and 
pearls, acquired by direct or indirect contact with the 
Eastern Mediterranean, it seems possible that the art of 
dyeing by means of shell-fish also spread in this direction. 
Various circumstances, however, may have prevented the 
adoption of so curious a custom. 
It must be remembered that particular kinds of shell- 
fish were necessary for the production of the purple, and 
much would depend on the presence of one or other of 
these forms in the seas round the islands of the Pacific. 
Murex and Purpura certainly occur in their neighbour- 
hood, but they are totally unlike the purple-yielding shell- 
fish of the Mediterranean—a fact that may have led to 
their being disregarded by the bearers of the particular 
culture. It is only when we reach the American coast 
that we find a form of shell-fish analogous to that used by 
Tyrian dyers of ancient times. 
92 The reference to its use in New Zealand, given in A/anch. Alem., 
Vol. 60, 1915, No. 1, p. 36, is founded on a misunderstanding. 
