TYRIAN PURPLE. 



141 



-shell, which is often ornamented with gay colours and varied marks and flutings. So also 

 the Conns genus, the title of which sufficiently indicates its general form, and some of the 

 shells of which command high prices. These generally tropical shells are more uniform 

 in shape than many just mentioned, but 

 they are most beautifully varied in colour 

 and minor details. The "residents" 

 have large heads with snouts, while their 

 mouths are furnished with horny teeth. 

 Every good collection, too, is sure to 

 contain examples of the genus Cassis, 

 principally from the Indian Ocean. 



Among the one-shell molluscs the 



Purpuras bear an honoured name; for TJROCHUS. 



did they not furnish the Greeks and 



Romans with the brilliant purple colouring matter which was reserved for the mantles 

 of princes and patricians ! The genus Purpura is characterised as possessing an oval 

 shell, thick pointed. The animal itself has a large head, furnished with two swollen conical 

 tentacles close together, and bearing an eye towards the middle of 

 their external side. By means of a large foot they creep about in 

 pursuit of bivalves. The larger and more important 

 kinds come from the warmer seas, especially those sur- 

 rounding the West Indies and Australia. 



O 



The purple mentioned in the Scriptures in connec- 

 tion with fine linen was that of the Phoenicians, and 

 came from Tyre. Sir William Wilde discovered not far 

 from the ruins of that city several circular excavations 

 in a rocky cliff, and in these he found a great number of 

 crushed and broken shells of Purpura. He believed that 

 they had been bruised in great masses by the Tyrian workmen for the manufacture of 

 the dye. Shells of the same species (Murex trunculus) are commonly found on the same 

 coast at the present day. Aristotle says that the Tyrian dye was taken from two 

 molluscs inhabiting the Phoenician coasts 

 and seas. According to the great Greek 

 philosopher, one of these had a very large 

 shell, consisting of seven turns of the 

 spire, studded with spines, and termina- 

 ting in a strong beak; the other had a 

 much smaller shell. It is thought that 

 the latter is to be found in the Purpura 

 lapillus, which abounds in the English Channel. Reaumur and Duhamel both obtained 

 a purple colour from it, which they applied as a dye, and found permanent. The real 

 secret of the production of the Tyrian purple remains undiscovered to-day. 



The genus Buccinum resembles that of the Purpura in many respects. The common 



VOLUTA. 



THE COWKIE (Cypreea tigris). 



