Chap. o6.j 
THE AMETHYST, ETC. TINTS. 
449 
of the pelagiae to exceed fifty,'' and that of the buccimim one 
hundred sesterces for one hundred pounds.^ 
CHAP. 65. — THE AMETHYST, THE TYRIAN, THE HYSGINIAN, AKD 
THE CEIMSOJSr TINTS. 
Eut no sooner have we finished with one branch of this 
subject than we have to begin upon another, for we find that 
it is made quite a matter of sport to create expense ; and not 
only this, but the sport must be doubled by making new mix- 
tures and combinations, and falsifying over again what was 
a falsification of the works of Nature already ; such, for in- 
stance, as staining tortoise-shell,^ alloying gold with silver for 
the purpose of making electrum,^^ and then adding copper to 
the mixture to make Corinthian metal. 
(41.) It was not sufficient to have borrowed from a precious 
stone the name of ^' amethyst" for a dye, but when we have ob- 
tained this colour we must drench it over again with Tyrian 
tints, so that we may have an upstart name^^ compounded of 
both, and at the same moment a two-fold display of luxury ; 
for as soon as ever people have succeeded in obtaining the 
conchyliated colour, they immediately begin to think that it 
will do better as a state of transition to the Tyrian hues. 
There can be little doubt that this invention is due to some 
artist who happened to change his mind, and alter a tint 
with which he was not pleased : hence a system has taken its 
rise, and spirits, ever on the rack for creating wonders, have 
transformed what was originally a blunder into something 
quite desirable ; while, at the same time, a double path has 
There can be little doubt that Salmasius is right in his conjecture that 
the reading here should be " quingentos," five hundred," instead of "quin- 
quagenos," "fifty as it is evident from what Pliny has said in previous 
Chapters, that the juices of the pelagia were considerably more valuable 
than those of the buccinum. 
8 He states this by way of warning to those who are in the habit of 
paying enormous prices for dyes, such as one hundred denarii for a pound, 
as mentioned in the last Chapter. 
9 This is mentioned more fully in B. xvi. c. 84. 
10 See B. xxxiii. c. 23. Electrum was an artificial metal, resembling 
amber in colour, and consisting of gold alloyed with one-fifth part of 
silver. 
11 See B. xxxiv. c. 3. It was a mixture of gold, silver, and copper. 
12 Described at the end of c. 62. 
1^ " Nomen improbum." 
VOL. IT. a a 
