MURICID^. — WHELK. ]31 



could cnish the strong hard shells of the Buccinum, or 

 Murex, but it might easily break the beautiful fragile 

 shell of the Helix ianthina, which .we know yields a 

 purple juice; for though a fable, the above was intended 

 to relate a possible event ; and we are told by Sir Gard- 

 ner Wilkinson that the ianthina is common on the coast 

 about Tyre and Beyrout. And though so very small, 

 being only the size of a small snail, three-quarters of an 

 inch in diameter, the water becomes completely coloured 

 all around it whenever it is alarmed, and throws out 

 its purple liquid.* 



Athenseus speaks of many different kinds of purple- 

 fish, some of them of large size, like those which are 

 found near Segeum and Lesteum ; and some small, like 

 those found in the' Euripus, and around Caria. Accord- 

 ing to Pliny, the juice of the Buccinum was considered 

 inferior by itself, but mixed with that of the pelagia, it 

 blended well, and gave a bright lustre to the colour. 

 The proper proportions for dyeing fifty pounds of wool, 

 were 200 pounds of juice of the Buccinum, and 111 

 pounds oi pelagium,-\ sxiA this mixture produced a beau- 

 tiful amethyst-colour. The Tyrian hue was given to 

 wool by soaking it in the juice oi the pelagia, while the 

 mixture was in a raw state, and afterwards dipping it in 

 the juice of the Buccinum. The best quality was of the 

 colour of blood, of a blackish hue to the sight, but of a 

 shining appearance when held up to the light. J The 

 " conchyliated" colour comprehended a variety of shades, 

 viz. that of the heliotropium, as well as one of a deeper 

 colour; that of the mallow, inclining to a full purple, and 



* See note, 'Rawlmson's ' Herodotus,' toI. ii. bt. iii. chap. 20, p. 415. 

 t Felagia was the shellfish, and peZa^jamthejuice, or oolour,from it. 

 J Pliny, Nat. Hist. vol. ii. bk. ix. chap. 62 (38). 



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