216 
ANIMALS. 
prove a lucrative source of trade. At San Miguel Chimalapa, 
this branch already constitutes an important occupation of the 
people, who occasionally send to the large towns on the Pacific 
coast several hundred pounds of wax. 
Among the numerous interesting Mollusca of this region is 
the Aplysia depilans, called by the ancients lepus marmus, and 
celebrated in history as furnishing the purple dye of vaunted 
Tyre. This shell-fish, from its limited distribution and extreme 
rarity, has been regarded by some naturalists as fabulous ; but 
its existence on the shores of the Pacific coast is clearly beyond 
question. There the Mollusca is found in great numbers on the 
rocky points, and is extensively employed by the Indians to dye 
a kind of coarse thread, called caracol, from the local name of 
the animal. At the falling of the tide it is found adhering to 
the rocks, from which it is easily gathered. By blowing into 
the shell the animal contracts itself closely, and exudes an acrid 
liquid, extremely fetid, with which the skeins of thread are 
moistened to saturation, and subsequently washed with soap 
and water, when they become a permanent purple color. This 
operation of dyeing is said to strengthen the thread greatly, and 
to protect it from the effects of rot. It is manufactured to some 
extent by the Huave Indians, who find a ready sale for it in 
Tehuantepec. Besides the Aplysia, and the murex purpura 
(also found on the Pacific shores), there are a hundred objects 
of equal interest, the particular notice of which is necessarily 
precluded by the admission of more essential points. But it 
will scarcely be necessary to say as a concluding reference to 
this subject, that the fauna of the Isthmus, as a whole, presents 
a rich and boundless field either for the realization of pecuniary 
results, or for scientific investigation. 
