Principal shell-fish
On the other hand, to certain of the shell-fish of Phoenicia a great celebrity attaches. The purple dye which gav
e to the
textile fabrics of the Phoenicians a world-wide reputation was prepared
from certain shell-fish which abounded upon their coast. Four existing species
have been regarded as more or less employed in the manufacture, and it seems
to be certain, at any rate, that the Phoenicians derived the dye from more
shell-fish than one. The four are the /Buccinum lapillus/ of Pliny,which
is the /Purpura lapillus/ of modern naturalists; the /Murex trunculus/;
the /Murex brandaris/; and the /Helix ianthina/. The Buccinum derives its
name from the form of the shell, which has a wide mouth, like that of a
trumpet, and which after one or two twists terminates in a pointed head.
The /Murex trunculus/ has the same general form as the Buccinum; but the
shell is more rough and spinous, being armed with a number of long thin
projections which terminate in a sharp point. The /Murex brandaris/ is a
closely allied species, and "one of the most plentiful on the Phoenician
coast." It is unlikely that the ancients regarded it as a different
shell from /Murex trunculus/. The /Helix ianthina/ has a wholly different
character. It is a sort of sea-snail, as the name /helix/ implies, is perfectly
smooth, "very delicate and fragile, and not more than about three-quarters
of an inch in diameter." All these shell-fish contain a /sac/ or bag
full of colouring matter, which is capable of being used as a dye. It is
quite possible that they were all, more or less, made use of by the Phoenician
dyers; but the evidence furnished by existing remains on the Tyrian coast
is strongly in favour of the /Murex brandaris/ as the species principally
employed.