Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1885 — Tyrian Purple. [ARTICLE]

Tyrian Purple.

In a communication by M. Berthelot to a French scientific journal on th© magnificent purple of Tyre, so highly prized by the ancients, it is said that, according to tradition, the color w»s discovered by accident. A shepherd’q dog found a shell-fish on the seashore. In crushing the shell he cut his mouth, and the blood, mingling with the juico of the mollusk, gave the splendid pur t pie, which was subsequently applied to the dyeing of stuffs. No other colds has been held in such high esteem. Thq King of Phu nicia was so charmed witlij its beauty that he forbade his subject ], to use it, reserving it for kings anq heirs presumptive to the crown. Moses adopted it for ecclesiastical purposes, the vestments of the high priests and the ornaments of the* tabernacle. A| that early period the art of dyeing must have attained a great degree of perfection. Among the Romans the right to wear the purple belonged at first only to great conquerors; afterward it was assumed by emperors. In more modern times the purple robe has bee.i reserved for the highest dignitaries of the. church, whence the expression “Roman purple,” to express the dicnity of “Cardinal.” M. Lacaze-Duthieres, of the French Institute, regards the ancient legend as probably true history, at least so far as this: that the bleeding mouth of the dog led to the discover , of the shell-fish from which the ancients extracted their color. For a long time much uncertainty existed as to the species of mollusk so employed, and many regarded the secret as lost. But shellfish possessing all the characteristics by which the > noients designated the animal have been found on the sea-coasts of England and France, and if they are not now made to serve the purpose it is because means have been sou >d to produce the color from cochineal at less cost. I have often wondered how every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.— Apollodorus.