Pliny says that the Tyrians first dyed their wool in the liquor of the purpura, and afterwards in that of the buccinum; and it is obvious from Moses that this purple was known to the Egyptians in his time.[85] Wool which had received this double Tyrian dye (_dia bapha_) was so very costly that, in the reign of Augustus, it sold for about 36_l._ the pound. But lest this should not be sufficient to exclude all from the use of it but those invested with the very highest dignities of the state, laws were made inflicting severe penalties, and even death, upon all who should presume to wear it under the dignity of an emperor. The art of dyeing this colour came at length to be practised by a few individuals only, appointed by the emperors, and having been interrupted about the beginning of the twelfth century all knowledge of it died away, and during several ages this celebrated dye was considered and lamented as an irrecoverable loss.[86] How it was afterwards recovered and made known by Mr. Cole, of Bristol, M. Jussieu, M. Reaumur, and M. Duhamel, would lead us too far from our present object, were we to relate it: those who are interested in the subject will find an historical detail in Bancroft’s work on Permanent Colours, just referred to. [85] Exodus xxv. 4. [86] See Bancroft on Permanent Colours, i. 79. There is reason to suspect that the Hebrew word translated _fine linen_ in the Old Testament, and so celebrated as a production of Egypt, was in reality _cotton_, and not linen. From a curious passage in Pliny, there is reason to believe that the Egyptians in his time, and probably long before, were acquainted with the method of calico-printing, such as is still practised in India and the east. The following is a literal translation of the passage in question: “There exists in Egypt a wonderful method of dyeing. The white cloth is stained in various places, not with dye stuffs, but with substances which have the property of absorbing (_fixing_) colours, these applications are not visible upon the cloth; but when they are dipped into a hot caldron of the dye they are drawn out an instant after dyed. The remarkable circumstance is, that though there be only one dye in the vat, yet different colours appear upon the cloth; nor can the colour be afterwards removed.”[87] [87] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxv. 11.