222 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



along the sea-shore, to visit his ladye-love, who, it appears, 

 was both capricious and imperious; his dog accompanied 

 him, but, being more engaged with thoughts of his stomach 

 than his heart, the animal sought food from the sea-shells 

 which strewed the shore. The lady, with true feminine 

 quickness, noticed that the mouth of the dog was stained 

 with a rich deep purple, the value of which she at once per- 

 ceived ; she therefore dismissed her lover in search of this 

 purple dye, telling him not to approach her again until he 

 had procured her a robe of the identical colour which had 

 excited her admiration. Poor Hercules, who had conquered 

 more difficulties than most men, was nearly beaten by this 

 "labour" of love. After much search, he despaired of 

 finding the means of dyeing a robe for his mistress like his 

 dog's mouth; and was very dejectedly trudging along the 

 same road as before, to plead his almost hopeless case to the 

 exacting fair one. His companion, the dog, accompanied 

 him as usual, and having made so profitable an excursion 

 on the previous occasion, he employed his time in a similar 

 indulgence of his taste for shell-fish. To the master's 

 surprise, he again saw the animal had acquired a blue nose ; 

 he retraced his steps, watched the actions of the clog, and 

 saw him feed upon that Murex whence the dye is supposed 



