66 SECRETS OF ANIMAL LIFE 
dipped their precious fabrics in the vats of Tyre 
and Sidon; the news of the glorious color spread; 
and masses of broken shells still betray to the 
archeologist the diffusion of the purple industry 
round the shores of the Mediterranean and the 
Red Sea and far beyond both. There was ancient 
purple-dyeing in Great Britain and Ireland, in 
Central America and Mexico, in Malay, China, and 
Japan. The process of extracting the dye was so 
peculiar and distinctive that probabilities are 
strongly in favor of the view, which Mr. Wilfrid 
Jackson supports, that the secret was carried from 
the Old World to the New by early Mediterranean 
seafarers. The snail’s secretion went through 
curious changes—colorless, yellow, green, bluish— 
before it flushed into the fine purple-red; and 
that added to beauty a suggestion of mystery. 
The final color hinted at blood, and this again at 
vitality. Multitudes of snails were required in order 
to yield a little dye, and this meant many adven- 
turous cruises, and these often meant many lives. 
So costliness embellished beauty, and the glamour of 
purple grew. Only a few men dare don purple robes, 
only a few women dare use the purple cosmetic, only 
the admiral’s ship or Cleopatra’s could have purple 
sails, only sacred script could enjoy the purple glory. 
Another esthetic appeal came from pearls and 
mother-of-pearl, the beauty of which has never 
ceased to charm. To the esthetic glamour of 
pearls was added the romantic touch of their 
mysterious origin, and it is interesting to find 
