_Murex trunculus_; the _Murex brandaris_; and the _Helix ianthina_. The
Buccinum derives its name from the form of the shell, which has a
wide mouth, like that of a trumpet, and which after one or two twists
terminates in a pointed head.[286] The _Murex trunculus_ has the same
general form as the Buccinum; but the shell is more rough and spinous,
being armed with a number of long thin projections which terminate in a
sharp point.[287] The _Murex brandaris_ is a closely allied species, and
"one of the most plentiful on the Phoenician coast."[288] It is
unlikely that the ancients regarded it as a different shell from _Murex
trunculus_. The _Helix ianthina_ has a wholly different character. It is
a sort of sea-snail, as the name _helix_ implies, is perfectly smooth,
"very delicate and fragile, and not more than about three-quarters of an
inch in diameter."[289] All these shell-fish contain a _sac_ or bag
full of colouring matter, which is capable of being used as a dye. It
is quite possible that they were all, more or less, made use of by the
Phoenician dyers; but the evidence furnished by existing remains on
the Tyrian coast is strongly in favour of the _Murex brandaris_ as the
species principally employed.[290]

The mineral treasures of Phoenicia have not, in modern times, been
examined with any care. The Jura limestone, which forms the substratum
of the entire region, cannot be expected to yield any important mineral
products. But the sandstone, which overlies it in places, is "often
largely impregnated with iron," and some strata towards the southern end
of Lebanon are said to produce "as much as ninety per cent. of pure iron
ore."[291] An ochrous earth is also found in the hills above Beyrout,
which gives from fifty to sixty per cent. of metal.[292] Coal, too, has
been found in the same locality, but it is of bad quality, and does not
exist in sufficient quantity to form an important product. Limestone,
both cretaceous and siliceous, is plentiful, as are sandstone, trap and