Geographical Distribution of the Shell-Purple Industry. 1 5 



the authority of the Rev. A. H. Cooke, that the mollusc 

 was used for the preparation of its distinctive product, 

 the " Tyrian Purple." 



In Africa, the island of Meninx (now Jerba) in the 

 Gulf of Cabes, was famed for its purple, as well as parts 

 of Gsetulia that border on the ocean.^ The port of Zuchis, 

 on the mainland, close to Meninx, also contained factories 

 for purple dyeing. ** Juba II., King of Mauritania, is said 

 to have established a manufactory of this dye, known as 

 " Gaetulian Purple " in the Purpuraris, or " Purple Islands " 

 (probably the Madeira group).''" 



^n the British Isles the art of purple dyeing from shell- 

 fish seems to have been known from very early timesP 

 That it dates from pre-historic times in Ireland seems 

 evident from the discoveries made in 1895 by R. Standen 

 and his co-workers of " Purpura-mounds " associated with 

 "Kitchen-middens" o{ P atella vulgata, Littorina littorea, 

 etc., at Portnafeadog (or Dogs Bay), Connemara, West of 

 Ireland. 



In his paper on the subject"" the author states that 

 the shells of Purpura lapillus in the " Purpura-mounds " 

 had all been broken in a peculiar manner. ' In each case 

 the apical whorls were smashed, leaving the lower whorl 

 with mouth intact, and in some cases portions of the 

 second and third whorls remaining along with the 

 columella. The broken Purpura shells were present in 

 enormous quantities and one large heap measured 55 

 yards in length, 15 yards across the broad end, and 3 

 yards across the narrow end. Two hundred specimens 

 were picked up from one square foot. 



Heaps of the shells of the same species in a broken 



" Pliny, "N.H.,"ix., ch. 60. 



" Strabo, xvii., 835. 



" Pliny, "N.H.," vi.,ch. 36. 



0° Journal of Conchology , viii., 1896, p. :87. 



