The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1920-10-22
Why Purple
Signifies Royalty

Purple has come to signify royalty,
wealth and power. AS is the case with
most phases, it is interesting to trace
the one quoted above and see how
purple came to have such associations.
, Price is of course the controlling fac
tor and when the price is such as to
limit of use of material or object to
those who are in affluence then these
materials and objects readily come to
have an idomatic use. Notwithstand-
ing the high prices of dyes in 1914 and
Their in history to find a time when
dye was really high, so high in fact
that to "wear the purple" has ever
since meant the command of riches.
The ancient purple was the Tyrian
purple named after the powerful city
of Tyre which, like Carthage and
Sidon, owed much of it's prestige to
the purple dye and the cloth colored
by it. According to Charles E. Pellew,
the Latin records show that no other
dye has ever brought so high price
commercially . AS the supply dimin-
ished the price rose until linen costing
$50 per pound sold for 652 per pound
after dying Assuming that per cent
of purple on the weight of goods was
required to give a full shade, say on
silk, the dye runs into the thousands
of dollars per pound.
From records and enormous piles of
shells near the ancient cities of the
Mediterranean the source OF Tyr1an
purple has been found to be a whitish
thick liquid found in a small vein OF
certain snaillike fish. Only a few
drops may be recovered from each
fish and 10000 were required for a
quantity of liquid sufficient for accu-
rate analysis of the active principle.
AS the demand increased the number
of fish rapidly decreased as their
growth is not rapid
Finally the art was lost and for 2OO
years was not revived. In 1868 the
purple fish" was rediscovered when
it was found that an Irish woman hV-
ing by the sea was using the Whltlsh
liquid for marking garments for identl-
fication after laundering. When TINS
LIQUID is applied to fibers and then
exposed to the sunlight purple color
is developed If it is not washed with
soap a fast crimson is produced. Iyr-
ian purple running from a blush gray
to a brownish red through indigo blue,
nurnle and violet. These shades are
so varied that we are led to suppose
that in time any unusually fine dye
was termed purple meaning quality
rather than definite color. Thus the
use of crimson robes for the Cathohc
clergy of today has come down as
! remanent of the practie at the time
when the church insisted that ITS rep
rasantatiyes should have the same pre-
negatives as State rulers and princes.
With such traditions and history IL
is not strange that the dye chemist
should dream of producing syntnetic-
ally the dye which accounted tor So
much The shell fish were identlheo
70. 900 collected from the Old peas
where they had again become numer-
ono and a careful analysis made OF
the coloring principle in the liquid IL
had been assuded that it would De III
some form of indigo, both from inc
color and the way it developed on
fbers. but that it should be bromine
darivatiye was a surprise for this was
the first time bromine had been 1ouno
tn he a. component of an animal
Chemically speaking, Tyrlan Imperial
shades of long ago are too dull ana
muddy to suit the taste cultivated ny
modarn brilliant, attractive colors.
They are no faster to light or WASH
ing. Modern puppies contain exactiy
the same atoms as it's ancient proto-
type, says the Scientific American
so the most humble wearer OF navy
blue is afforded a color in all respects
superior to that used to designate the
Roman consul and the senators of the
Roman state by narrow borders on
the toga.