226 SHELLS AND MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. 



processes which were used in the dyeing. In the 

 time of Augustus, one pound of wool dyed with 

 the Tyrian purple, could not be bought for thirty 

 pounds. But when once stained, the colour was 

 permanent, for Plutarch relates that the Greeks 

 found in the treasury of the kings of Persia a 

 large quantity of purple cloth, which was still rich 

 and beautiful, though it was one hundred and 

 ninety years old. 



It was not until the year 1683, that our common 

 dog whelk was known to furnish the purple dye. 

 In that year, Mr. William Cole, who is described 

 as a lover of Natural History, heard that a person 

 living at a sea-port in Ireland had dyed fine linen 

 of a deep and durable crimson colour; he, upon 

 inquiry, ascertained it to have been yielded by this 

 whelk. He found that the juice, when taken 

 from the vein in the neck of the fish, and squeezed 

 on silk, acquired, on exposure to the sun, a pale 

 yellowish-green hue ; that it then changed to 

 blue, finally to a deep purple tint, and that on 

 washing the cloth with scalding water and soap, 

 it became of a rich crimson. When the linen was 

 marked with the juice, it yielded a strong odour, 

 like that of garlic and asafcetida, and as a similar 

 scent is stated by the ancient writers to have 

 attended the process of their purple dyeing, this 

 seemed to confirm the idea that this shell-fish was 

 at least one of those iormerly used for this purpose. 

 The eggs of this mollusk are very remarkable. 

 They are found in little clusters, and look like a 

 number of little vases on stalks, all standing near 

 each other. They are of the colour and size of 

 grains of wheat. 



One other common kind of whelk is well known 



