Eight species of the former, and six of the latter, having their habitat in the Mediterranean, have been distinguished by some naturalists;[89] but two of the former only, and one of the latter, appear to have attracted the attention of the Phoenicians.

The _Murex brandaris_ is now thought to have borne away the palm from all the others; it is extremely common upon the coast; and enormous heaps of the shells are found, especially in the vicinity of Tyre, crushed and broken--the debris, as it would seem, cast away by the manufacturers of old.[810] The _Murex trunculus_, according to some, is just as abundant, in a crushed state, in the vicinity of Sidon, great banks of it existing, which are a hundred yards long and several yards thick.[811] It is a more spinous shell than the _M.

brandaris_, having numerous projecting points, and a generally rough and rugged appearance.
The _Purpura_ employed seems to have been the _P.

lapillus_, a mollusc not confined to the Mediterranean, but one which frequents also our own shores, and was once turned to some account in Ireland.[812] The varieties of the _P.

lapillus_ differ considerably.