Geographical Distribution of the Shell-Purple Industry. 23 



duity of the Indians. It is taken to the sea-side, when a 

 sufficient number of shells are collected, which being 

 dried from the sea water, the work is commenced. Each 

 shell is taken up singly, and a slight pressure upon the 

 valve which closes its mouth [operculum] forces out a 

 few drops of the colouring fluid, which is then almost 

 destitute of colour. In this each thread is dipped singly, 

 and after absorbing enough of the precious fluid, is care- 

 fully drawn out between the thumb and finger, and laid 

 aside to dry. Whole days and nights are spent in this 

 tedious process, until the work is completed. At first the 

 thread is of a dull blue colour, but upon exposure to the 

 atmosphere acquires the desired tint. The fish is not 

 destroyed by the operation but is returned to the sea, 

 when it lays in a new stock of colouring matter for a 

 future occasion." 



In connection with the Nicoya industry, the observa- 

 tions of C. V. Hartman 8 - are interesting. On one of his 

 recent expeditions to the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, he 

 visited Guanacosta, where he saw an Indian woman from 

 Chiriqui wading in the water in search of Purpura. She 

 would put the shell to her mouth and blow into it, causing 

 the snail to discharge a greenish yellow fluid, which she 

 applied to white cotton thread. The fluid in drying turns 

 to purple. 



An even more interesting account of the existence of 

 purple dyeing in the New World is that recently published 

 by Zelia Nuttall, viz., " A curious survival in Mexico of 

 the use of the Purpura shell-fish for dyeing." 83 In this 

 paper an excellent description is given of the dyeing of 

 cotton thread for the manufacture of purple skirts worn 

 by the women of Tehuantepec. In the spring the cotton 



See Mac Curdy, o/>. cit., p. 160, quoting Hartman. 

 " Putnam Anniversary Volume, 1909, pp. 368-384. 



