Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Ix. (191 6), No. 7. 



VII. The Geographical Distribution of the Shell- 

 Purple Industry. 



By J. Wilfrid Jackson, F.G.S. 



Manch ester Museum . 



Hon. Librarian of the Conchological Society of Great Britain and 

 Ireland. 



Introduction. 



Among the many curious and ornamental uses to 

 which shell-fish have been applied, one of the most striking 

 and interesting is undoubtedly their employment for the 

 production of the famous dye known as " Tyrian purple.'' 



Much has been written concerning this dye and the 

 subject has been discussed in its economical and philo- 

 sophical aspects by numerous writers. 



By far the best and most comprehensive summary of 

 the various contributions to our knowledge of the subject 

 is the article on Purpura by Maurice Besnier, in Daremberg 

 and Saglio's " Dictionnaire des Antiquites." 1 The biblio- 

 graphy quoted by this author is astonishing and serves to 

 show how extensively the subject has been treated by 

 writers of different nationalities. 



But Besnier, and the authors he quotes, deal only with 

 the classical area or the Mediterranean. The aim of the 

 present paper is to trace out, as far as it is possible to do 

 so, the geographical distribution of this interesting 

 industry ; not only in the Old, but also in the New World. 



Many data relating to the use of this shell-purple are 



to be found in the historical records, but in some cases its 



1 Vol. IV.— 1., Paris. 

 May 227id, igi6. 



