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During the north-east monsoon a formidable surf bursts upon the shore, which is here piled high with mounds of yellow sand; and the remains of shells upon the water mark show how rich the sea is in mollusca. Amongst them are prodigious numbers of the ubiquitous violet-coloured Ianthina , which rises when the ocean is calm, and by means of its inflated vesicles floats lightly on the surface.
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 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.
This very remarkable mollusk was taken in the towing net off Cape Byron, on the east coast of Australia, in latitude 28 degrees 40 minutes South, fifteen miles from the shore. It was floating and was apparently gregarious. Mr. Macgillivray states that it is furnished with a float in the manner of Ianthina. The largest specimens measure rather less than two lines in diameter.
The Helix ianthina, which is included by certain writers among the molluscs employed for dyeing purposes by the Phoenicians, is a shell of a completely different character, smooth and delicate, much resembling that of an ordinary land snail, and small compared to the others.
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