Note 774 — CANTO THE SIXTEENTH.[768]
Reading edition
{575}The composition of the old Tyrian purple, whether from a shell-fish, or from cochineal, or from kermes, is still an article of dispute; and even its colour—some say purple, others scarlet: I say nothing.
[Kermes is cochineal, the Greek κόκκινον. The shell-fish (murex) is the Purpura patula. Both substances were used as dyes.]