(41.) It was not sufficient to have borrowed from a precious stone the name of “amethyst” for a dye, but when we have obtained this colour we must drench it over again with Tyrian tints,[2707] so that we may have an upstart name[2708] compounded of both, and at the same moment a two-fold display of luxury; for as soon as ever people have succeeded in obtaining the conchyliated colour, they immediately begin to think that it will do better as a state of transition to the Tyrian hues. There can be little doubt that this invention is due to some artist who happened to change his mind, and alter a tint with which he was not pleased: hence a system has taken its rise, and spirits, ever on the rack for creating wonders, have transformed what was originally a blunder into something quite desirable; while, at the same time, a double path has been pointed out to luxury, in thus making one colour carry another, and thereby become, as they say, softer and more mellow. And what is even more than this, human ingenuity has even learned to mingle with these dyes the productions of the earth, and to steep in Tyrian purple fabrics already dyed crimson with the berry of the kermes, in order to produce the hysginian[2709] tint. The kermes of Galatia, a red berry which we shall mention when we come to speak[2710] of the productions of the earth, is the most esteemed of all, except, perhaps, the one that grows in the vicinity of Emerita,[2711] in Lusitania. However, to make an end, once for all, of my description of these precious dyes, I shall remark, that the colour yielded by this grain[2712] when a year old, is of a pallid hue, and that if it is more than four years old, it is quickly discharged: hence we find that its energies are not developed either when it is too young or when old. I have now abundantly treated of an art, by means of which men, just as much as women, have an idea that their appearance may be set off to the greatest possible advantage. CHAP. 66. (42.)—THE PINNA, AND THE PINNOTHERES. Belonging to the shell-fish tribe there is the pinna[2713] also: it is found[2714] in slimy spots, always lying upright, and never without a companion, which some writers call the pinnotheres,[2715] and others, again, pinnophylax, being a small kind of shrimp, or else a parasitical crab. The pinna,[2716] which is destitute of sight, opens its shell, and in so doing exposes its body within to the attacks of the small fish, which immediately rush upon it, and finding that they can do so with impunity, become bolder and bolder, till at last they quite fill the shell. The pinnotheres, looking out for the opportunity, gives notice to the pinna at the critical moment by a gentle bite, upon which the other instantly closes its shell, and so kills whatever it has caught there; after which, it divides the spoil with its companion. CHAP. 67.—THE SENSITIVENESS OF WATER ANIMALS; THE TORPEDO, THE PASTINACA, THE SCOLOPENDRA, THE GLANIS, AND THE RAM-FISH.