Forty Centuries of Ink | Page 7

granza, garancia, were
applied to madder, the latter (garance) being still retained in France.
The color yielding substance resides almost entirely in the roots.
Chilzon was the name given by the ancient Hebrews to a blue dye
procured from a species of shell-fish.
Herodotus, B. C. 443, asserts that on the shores of the Caspian Sea
lived a people who painted the forms of animals on their garments with
vegetable dyes:

"They have trees whose leaves possess a peculiar property; they reduce
them to powder, and then strip them in water; this forms a dye or
coloring matter with which they paint on their garments the figures of
animals. The impression is such that it cannot be washed out; it appears,
indeed, to be woven into the cloth, and wears as long as the garment
itself."
We are informed by another ancient writer that the pagan nations were
accustomed to array the images of their gods in robes of purple. When
the prophet Ezekiel took up a lamentation for Tyre, he spoke of the
"blue and purple from the isles of Elishah" in which the people were
clothed. This reference is said to doubtless refer to the islands of the
Aegian Sea, from whence many claim , the Tyrians obtained the
shell-fish,--the murex and papura, which produced the dark-blue and
bright-scarlet coloring materials, the employment of which contributed
so much to the fame of ancient Tyre.
Pliny the younger confirms this statement:
"The Tyrian-purple was the juice of the Purpurea, a shell-fish, the veins
of its neck and jaws secreting this royal color, but so little was obtained
that it was very rare and cost one thousand Denarii (about $150.00) per
pound."
A more modern writer in discussing a crimson or ruby color says:
"By a mistaken sense the Latin word purpurus, has been called purple,
by all the English and French writers."
Arbuthnot, London, 1727, in his book "Ancient Coins, Weights and
Measures," as the result of his examinations of the most ancient records
estimates:
"The Purple was very dear; there were two sorts of Fishes whereof it
was made, the Pelagii, (which were those that were caught in the deep)
and the Buccini. The Pelagium per Pound was worth 50 Nummi, (8 s.
10 3/4 d.), and the Buceinunt double that, viz. 17 s. 8 3/4 d. (Harduin
reads a hundred Pounds at that price.) The Tyrian double Dye per

Pound could scarce be bought for L35 9 s., 1 3/4 d."
The very ancient writers state that the most esteemed of the Tyrian
purples were those which compared in color with "coagulated bullocks'
blood." This estimation seems to go back to the time of the Phoenicians,
who were excessively fond of the redder shades of purple which they
obtained also from several varieties of shell-fish and comprehended
under two species; one (Buccinum) found in cliffs, and the other
(Pelagia) which was captured at sea. The first was found on the coasts
of the Mediterranean and Atlantic. The Atlantic shells afforded the
darkest color, while those of the Phoenician coast itself yielded scarlet
shades of wonderful intensity.
Respecting the cost and durability of the Tyrian purple, it is related that
Alexander the Great found in the treasury of the Persian monarch 5,000
quintals of Hermione purple of great beauty, and 180 years old, and
that it was worth $125 of our money per pound weight. The price of
dyeing a pound of wool in the time of Augustus is given by Pliny, and
that price is equal to about $160 of our money. It is probable that his
remarks refer to some particular tint or quality of color easily
distinguished, although not at all clearly defined by Pliny. He also
mentions a sort of purple, or hyacinth, which was worth, in the time of
Julius Caesar, 100 denarii (about $15 of our money) per pound.
The best authorities of the present day, however, are of opinion that the
celebrated Tyrian-purple was extracted from a mollusk known as the
Janthina prolongata, a shell abundant in the Mediterranean and very
common near Narbonne, where the Tyrian purple dye-works were in
operation at least six hundred years before Christ.
The price current of some of the inks and colors of antiquity, as quoted
by Arbuthnot, are cited herewith:
Armenian purple 30 hs.=4 s. 10 1/3 d.
India purple from one Denarius, or 7 3/4 d. to 30 Denarii, 19 s. 4 1 2 d.
Pelagium, the juice of one sort fishes that dyed purple, 50 hs.=8 s. 0 7/8

d.
Buccinum the juice of the other fish that dyed purple, 100 hs.=16 s. 1
3/4 d.
Cinnabar 50 hs.=8 s. 0 7/8 d.
Tarentine red purple, price not mentioned.
Melinum, a sort of colour that came from Melos, one Nummus,=1
15/16 d.
Paretonium, a