Gt'ographical Dislributiou of the S//c//-I\'tr/^Ie huiusirv. 29 



real, and are due rather to lack of |)rcci.sc information, 

 than to an entire absence of the art in certain ])laccs. 



I have been unable so far t<> trace any indication of 

 this industr)- 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, acquiretl b\- direct or indirect contact with the 

 Eastern Mediterranean, it seems possible that the art of 

 dyeing b\' means of shell-fish also sjjread in this direction. 

 Various circumstances, however, ma\- have prevented the 

 adoption of so curious a custom. 



it must be remembered that particular kinds of shell- 

 fish were necessar\- 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 l^acific. 

 Miircx and Purpura certainl\- occur in their neighbour- 

 hood, but they are totally unlike the purj)le->ielding shell- 

 fish of the Mediterranean — -a fact that may have led to 

 their being disregardetl b\' 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. 



■'-■ Tile rcftieiicc to its u>f in New Ztaland, given in AJani/t. Jfciii., 

 \''<\. 60. 1915, Xo. I. p. 3'), is fiiunded <iii a misunderslantiing. 



