324: Gastkropoda. MOLLUSCA. MuKiciDAi. 
fleveloped tubercle — see the accompanying figure of 
Mur ex {Chicoreus) in flatus, fig. 213. These tubercles, 
however, in many instances are themselves produced 
into varices, and then the species have six. Most of 
the species of Chicoreus yield a purple dye, and though 
the little common purple sliell, Purpura lapillus, was for 
a long time considered the shell which yielded the 
celebrated Tyrian djm, later observations and researches 
would seem to prove, that perhaps the most common 
shell used by the ancients was a species of this genus, 
Murex {Chicoreus') trunculus. Fabius Columna, a 
Neapolitan nobleman, and the best authority on this 
question, maintained that the purpura of Pliny, who 
gives a good account of the manner in which this dye 
was procured, is the Murex trunculus, and his state- 
ment has been apparently confirmed by a late traveller 
who had visited the site of the ancient Tyre. In a 
communication made to the Eoyal Irish Academy, Dr. 
Wilde stated, that having been engaged in investigating 
the ruins of that ancient city, he discovered several 
circular apertures or reservoirs cut in the solid sand- 
stone rock close to the water’s edge, along tire southern 
shore of the peninsula. These in shape resembled 
large pots, and vailed in size from two to eight feet 
in diameter, and from four to five in depth. Some 
were in clusters, others isolated, and several were 
collected in pairs near a conduit about a foot deep. 
Many of these pots or reservoirs were filled with 
breccia, solely composed of broken up shells, bound 
together by carbonate of lime, &c. This mass, a portion 
of which was exhibited to the Academy, was exceedingly 
heavy, of adamantine hardness, and the shells of which 
it was composed, appeared to be all of one species, and 
from the sharpness of their fracture were evidently 
broken by art, and not worn or water washed. The 
shells, he says, were examined by eminent naturalists, 
and were pronounced to be the Murex trunculus. 
Pliny informs us that when the shells were small they 
were bruised in mortars or certain mills; and Dr. 
Wilde expressed it as his opinion that the reservoirs 
he discovered at Tyre were the vats or mortars in 
which the shells were broken up to obtain the dye. 
The liquor which composed the dye is contained in a 
vein placed behind the neck, and according to the old 
writers was at first of the colour and consistence of 
cream. This Tyrian purple was the most costly and 
brilliant dye of which we read in history. Wool which 
had been well dyed, in the reign of Augustus sold for 
about £3G per pound weight. None but those invested 
with the very highest dignities of the state were allowed 
to use it, and laws were enacted inflicting severe 
penalties, and even death, upon all who should presume 
to wear it under the dignity of an emperor. It w’as 
discovered by the Phoenicians, and is described by 
Pliny as “ that glorious colour, so full of state and 
majestie, that the Roman lictors with their rods, 
halberds, and axes, make way for; this is it that 
graceth and setteth out the children of princes and 
noblemen ; this maketh the distinction between a 
knight and counsellor of state ; this is called for and 
put on when they ofl’er sacrifice to pacify the gods ; 
this giveth a lustre to all sorts of garments; to conclude, 
our great generals of the field, and victorious captains, 
in their triumphs weave this purple in their mantles, 
interlaced and embroidered with gold among. No 
marvel, therefore, if purples be so much sought for ; 
and men are to be held excused if they run a madding 
after purples.” — {Holland's Pliny.) About the middle 
of the tw'elfth century, the dyers at Tyre were inter- 
rupted in their pursuits, and from that time the 
knowledge of their practice seems to have died com- 
pletely away. But though the art of dying purple was 
lost to the places which gave it birth, we find that a 
similar dye was used in our island at a very early 
period, and its employment continued down to the end 
of the seventeenth century. The mollusc, as we shall 
see when we come to the genus Purpura, used in this 
country was the Purpura lap)illus, 
THE SPINDLE SHELLS (genus Fusus of Lamarck) 
are characterized by the shells possessing only rudi- 
mentary or no varices, the inner lip being smooth, and 
the operculum ovate, acute, with the* nucleus apical. 
The recentspeciesarenumerous,upwards of onehundred 
having been described, and varying a good deal from 
each other in several characters, have been distributed 
through four sub-genera or groups. They are world- 
wide in their distribution, being found in Asia, America, 
the Pacific ocean, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa. 
Some of them have the mouth of the shell produced 
into a long and nearly straight canal, the shell itself 
being spindle-shaped, and the spire elongate, many 
whirled, and conic. These constitute the genus Colus. 
In the species of this genus, the animal is red. The 
type is the shell which was described by Linnaeus as 
Murex colus, the Fusus colus of Lamarck, and othei's. 
Other species have the canal very short and straight, 
the shell itself of an ovate fusiform shape, with a conic 
spire and a papillary apex. These constitute the genus 
Chrysodomus, and in the species belonging to it, the 
animal is olive. 
THE MUREX ANTIQUUS of Linnaeus, the Fusus 
antiquus of Lamarck and succeeding authors, is the 
type of this group. The shell of Chrysodomus antiquus 
is oval, sub-fusiform, and densely and strongly striated, 
and large, specimens measure seven inches in length, 
and five in breadth. It is a native of many parts of 
Great Britain, ranging from five to thirtj' fathoms, and 
preferring as its habitat, shell banks. It is a gracefully 
formed shell, and is used by the natives of Zetland as a 
lamp. It is suspended horizontally by a cord, and the 
cavity of the .«hell being filled with oil, the canal serves to 
hold the wick. A sketch of this primitive lamp may be 
seen in Dr. Johnston’s Introduction to Conchology, and 
he exclaims, “ examine the sketch, and then tell me if it 
is not probable that some of the most elegant patterns 
left us by the Greeks have been suggested by a similar 
primitive piactice?” The animal is used by the fisher- 
men on our coast as a bait. The egg capsules of this 
species and the young have been described by Edward 
Forbes and Dr. Johnston. The capsules are half an 
inch in diameter, convex outwardly, and concave on 
the inner side. They are coarse and corrugated, and 
are piled one above another in a conical heap, three 
inches or so high, two in diameter, and attached firmly 
by a broad basis to rocks in deep water. Previous to 
their being excluded, the young are perfectly formed, 
