Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/641

PURPLE COLORS. molluscous animal or shell-fish, the Murex trunculus, and perhaps also Purpura lapillus. The chief seat of the industry from most ancient times was Tyre, where it continued to flourish in Imperial Roman times. Tarentum, the modern Otranto, was the seat of one of the great murex fisheries of the Romans, and there they had a number of large dyeing establishments. With the decline of the Roman Empire the employment of this purple color ceased, and it was not until a Florentine of the name of Orchillini discovered the dyeing properties of the lichen now called orchella weed that a simple purple color was known in Europe. The discovery was kept secret in Italy for nearly a century, and that country supplied the rest of Europe with the prepared dye, which received the name of orchil or archil (q.v.). The color was very fugitive, and soon ceased to be used by itself; it, however, was found very useful in combination, and has a remarkable power of brightening up other colors. Many improvements have been lately made in archil dyeing, especially in fixing it. Its value, however, has been greatly lessened by the discovery of the beautiful series of purples yielded by coal-tar as results of the combination of one of its products called aniline with other bodies. Consult: Dedeken, Ein Beitrug zur Purpurkunde (Berlin, 1898); Faymonville, Die Purpurfärberei des klassischen Altertums (Heidelberg, 1900).

PURPLE-FACED MONKEY. A Ceylonese langur. See ;.

PURPLE FINCH. A beautiful, crimson-tinted finch of the Eastern United States and Canada. See ; and Plate of.

PURPLE GRAKLE, HERON, MARTIN, See Grakle, Heron, etc.

PURPLE ISLAND, A long poem by Phineas Fletcher (1633), describing the human body allegorically as an island of which the bones are foundations; arteries, rivers; heart and organs, cities; intellect, the king, attacked by diseases and vices. This unwieldy and involved conception displays much anatomical knowledge, melodious verse, and impressive descriptions of vices and virtues.

PURPLE OF CASSIUS. See.

PURPLES. A nematode disease of wheat. See.

PURPLE SCALE. A name originating in Florida for Mytilaspis citricola, a scale insect which occurs exclusively upon citrus plants and swarms in the orange and lemon orchards of the Southern United States, frequently causing great damage. It was introduced at one or two places in California about 1896, and is even more injurious in that State than in Florida when special efforts are not made to reduce its numbers. The species is probably of Chinese origin, and has now spread to most parts of the world where oranges and lemons are grown. It occurs upon the twigs and branches, but has a strong tendency to overrun the leaves and the fruit. It is apt to infest the lemon, citron, and those varieties of orange which have large oil cells in the skin of the fruit, such as the tangerine. The remedy most in use in Florida is the kerosene emulsion spray.

THE PURPLE SCALE. 1. Mature scale: a, upper surface; b. under surface; showing eggs. 2. A scale in formation: a, top view; b, side view.

PURPLE-SHELL. A gastropod mollusk of the genera Murex and Purpura, whose secretions give a purple stain. Certain other mollusks, as Janthina and Aplysia, yield a violet-hued liquor, while others, as Area, pour forth red blood. The discovery and use of this color are prehistoric and myths have arisen to explain them. Long before the beginning of the Christian era the gathering of the mollusks and application of the dye were practiced in factories all about the eastern part of the Mediterranean, several species of small ilurex serving the purpose — principally Murex trunculus. The most famous place of production was near Tyre, whence the product came to be called Tyrian purple. It was limited in supply and costly, and from an early time — tradition says from the era of Romulus — was reserved wholly for the use of royalty in Church and State. Hence the terms and symbolism of this color as imperial, and the phrase porphyrogenitus — 'born to the purple.' The color is still reserved in various ceremonial usages to officials of high rank. Accounts of the various tints are given by Pliny (Natural History, Vol. II., Book IX.) and by others. The most highly esteemed Tyrian hue was a deep blood-color, but full violet, heliotrope and intermediate shades were made by blending. Tarentum, in Southern Italy, also produced a famous red, and great heaps of broken shells in that neighborhood remained in 1789 to attest the importance of this ancient industry. The process was one of crushing the shell and macerating the animal. The juices were at first nearly colorless, but on exposure to the light and proper treatment the rich purple hue was developed. Sunlight seems to have been necessary.

Of the mollusks other than Murex which yield the dye, the most important is the nearly related Purpura, especially the 'dog-whelk' (Purpura lapillus), a shell the size of an almond or smaller, which abounds on both coasts of the North Atlantic, and which has been used from early times both in Great Britain and in New England as a source of an indelible violet ink for marking, ornamenting and even dyeing textile fabrics. The color appears to be confined to a 'vein' or gland near the head, which yields a drop of viscid liquid, which when first dropped upon the cloth, or used with a pen to draw letters or an ornamental design, is colorless, but as soon as it is exposed to the sun, changes rapidly from light to deep green, to blue and at last to a fine purplish red. "If the cloth be now washed with scalding water and soap, and laid again in the sun, the color changes to a beautiful crimson," which is permanent. This dye was extensively used in Ireland in the 15th century, for orna-