58. It is farther stated by Pliny, that it not being thought aufficient to communicate the colour of the amethyst to wool, it became customary to dye it again with the Ty rian purple ; and that in reference to this circumstance, the compound colour produced by this refinement in luxury, was called Tyriamethystus. He adds, that, not content with thus combining colours obtained from the ocean, recourse was also had to those produced on the land; and that wool or cloth dyed crimson from the t7,oct:us (kermcs) was afterwards made to imbibe the Ty rim+ purple, in order that it might assume the colohr kk Lich it as mimed hysginus, after a flower so railed. Other colouring mattes were employed, sometimes to economize, and at other times vary the effects of the liquors of the purpura and buccinum. Among these, Pli iv enumerates focus warinua or anthill, and the an or aikauct, both of which are still used as ekes. Itv ito se and other means, the purple colour was made to assume a satiety of shades, some inclining more to the blue, and others more to the crimson.
59. Ui.der the history of dyeing, we took notice of the restrictions which had been imposed upon the use of the Ty rian purple, and mentioned other circumstances kt Lich :,raelual,y led to the total neglect of that celebrated dye; es e shall now describe a little more minutely the methods of communicating that colour, by means of ii hit h have been employed in modern times. In the year 1683, Alit William Cole of Bristol being at Minehead, he was there told of a person living at a sea port in Ireland, who had made considerable gain by marking with a delicate durable crimson colour, the line linen of ladies and gentlemen sent to him for that purpose, and that this colour was made by sonic liquid substance taken out of shell-fish. Mr Cole, being a lover of natural history, and having his curiosity thus excited, went in quest of these shell-fish ; and after try ing various kinds without success, he at length found considerable quantities of a species of buccinum on the sea coasts of Somersetshire, and the opposite coasts of South Wales. After many ineffectual endeavours, he discovered the colouring matter placed in a "-white vein, lying transvt rsely in a little furrow or cleft next to the head of the fish, which," says he, " must be dig ged out with the stiff point of a horse hair pencil, made short and tapering, by reason of the viscous clamminess of the white liquor in the vein, that so by its stiffness it may drive in the matter into the fine linen or white silk" intended to be marked. Letters or marks made in this way, with the white liquor in question, " will presently," adds he, " appear of a pleasent green colour, and if placed in the sun, will change into the following colours, i.e. if in the winter, about noon, if in the sum mer, an hour or two after sunrise, and so much before setting, (for in the beat of the day in summer, the co lours will come on so fast that the succession of each colour will scarce be distinguishable ;) next to the first light green will appear a deep green, and in a few mi nutes this will change into a full sea-green, after which in a few minutes more, it will alter into a watchet blue, and from that in a little time more, it will he of a pur plish red, after which, lying an hour or two, (supposing the sun still shining) it will be of a very deep purple red, beyond which the sun can do no more." He re
marks, however, that " these changes are made faster or slower, according to the degree of the sun's heat ;" "but then," adds he, " the last and most beautiful colour, af ter washing in scalding water and soap, will (the mat ter being again exposed to the sun or wind to dry) be much a differing colour from all those mentioned, i. e. a fair bright crimson, or near to the Prince's colour, which, afterwards, notwithstanding there is no styptic to bind the colour, will continue the same, if well or dered, as I have found in hankerchiefs that have been washed more than forty times, only it will be somewhat alloyed from what it was after the first washing." 60. M. Cole sent some of the linen marked in this way to Dr Plot, then one of the secretaries of the Royal Society, in November 1684 ; which was soon after shewn to Charles the Second, who admired it great ly, and desired that some of the liquor might be sent to town, in order that he might witness its effects. But before this could be clone, the king died, and it appears that little further interest was at that time excited about the matter. After an interval of twenty-four years, M. Jussieu found n small species of buccinum on the western shores of France, and presented some of them in 1709 to the Royal academy of Sciences at Paris; and in the following year, Reaumur discovered great numbers of the same shell-fish on the coast of Poitou. Reaumur observed, that the stones and little sandy ridges round which they had collected, were co vered with a kind of oval 4, graines," some of which were white, and others of a yellowish colour ; and ha ving squeezed some of them upon the sleeve of his shirt, he was agreeably surprised, in about half an hour, to find it stained of a fine purple colour, which he was unable to discharge by washing. He next collected a quantity of these grains, and carrying them to his apart ment, bruised and squeezed different parcels of them upon bits of linen ; but, to his great surprise, after wait ing two or three hours, no colour appeared upon the spots wetted with the liquor. Unable to conceive the reason of this disappointment, and having almost deter mined to return again to the sea-snore, and repeat the experiment on the same plan as before, he chanced to perceive some purple spots, occasioned by drops of the liquor which had accidentally fallen upon a part of the plaster of Paris with which the sides .of the window were covered, and which having been more strongly acted upon by the light than the bits of linen wetted with the same liquor in the interior part of the room, had become purple, though the day was then cloudy. He afterwards made a variety of experiments with the liquor of the buccinum ; but as he was, from the out set, impressed with the notion that the conversion of it to purple was occasioned by some mechanical action of the air, he never discovered the true cause of the pro duction of that colour.