Chap. 61.] DIFFERENT KINDS OF PURPLES. 443 



dressed to propitiate the gods ; on ever} r garment 75 it sheds a 

 lustre, and in the triumphal vestment 76 it is to be seen min- 

 gled with gold. Let us be prepared then to excuse this 

 frantic passion for purple, even though at the same time we 

 are compelled to enquire, why it is that such a high value has 

 been set upon the produce of this shell-fish, seeing that while 

 in the dye the smell of it is offensive, and the colour itself 

 is harsh, of a greenish hue, and strongly resembling that of 

 the sea when in a tempestuous state ? 



The tongue of the purple is a finger 77 in length, and by 

 means of this it finds subsistence, by piercing other shell- 

 fish, 78 so hard is the point of it. They die in fresh water, and 

 in places where rivers discharge themselves into the sea ; 

 otherwise, when taken, they will live as long as fifty days on 

 their saliva. All shell-fish grow very fast, and purples more 

 especially ; they come to their full size at the end of a year. 



CHAP. 61. THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PURPLES. 



Were I at this point to pass on to other subjects, luxury, no 

 doubt would think itself defrauded of its due, and so accuse 

 me of negligence ; I must therefore make my way into the 

 very workshops even, so that, just as among articles of food 

 the various kinds and qualities of corn are known, all those 

 who place the enjoyment of life in these luxuries, may have 

 a still better acquaintance with the objects for which they 

 live. 79 



was worn by the priests when performing sacrifice. Ajasson, however, 

 agrees with Dalechamps in thinking that this passage bears reference to 

 the consuls, who wore purple when sacrificing to the gods. 



75 The praetexta, for instance, the laticlave, the chlamys, the paluda- 

 mentum, and the trabea. 



76 On the occasion of a triumph, the victor was arrayed in a " toga 

 picta," an embroidered garment, which, from the present passage, would 

 appear to have been of purple and gold. Pliny tells us, B. xxxiii. c. 19, 

 that Tarquinius, on his triumph over the Sahines, wore a robe of cloth of 

 gold. 



77 Aristotle says the same, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 14, and De Partib. 

 Anim. B. ii. c. 17. Cuvier says, that the buccinus and murex have a long 

 neck, in which there is a tongue armed with little teeth, but very sharp, 

 by means of which the animal is enabled to pierce other shell-fish. 



78 u Conchylia ;" other fish of the same kind apparently; as Pliny uses 

 the word "conchylium" synonymously with " murex." 



79 " Praemia vita3 suse." 



