eated, according to his custom, a little on one side. The stranger
approached the lamp, looked at the shell, smiled, sighed, and placed it
in his pocket. A light crash was heard; he re-seated himself, and
revived the fire of his half-extinguished cigar. Then, perceiving that
every one was looking curiously at him--'I have broken it,' said he; and
he threw the fragments of the shell upon the floor, and ground them
beneath his heel.

"For several instants there was a profound silence, caused by the
surprise of the company at this gratuitous destruction. The old man
continued, with a melancholy smile, 'I will tell you, gentlemen,
wherefore I broke the shell. Science, or rather its fanaticism, leads to
strange weaknesses. If my folly can any where find indulgence, surely it
will be among you, who are all, more or less, collectors. Perhaps, I
shall even meet with some auditor not only capable of comprehending, but
likewise of imitating me. This shell is a spiral that has never been
either named or copied. I possess in my collection the only similar one
that is known to the scientific world. I procured it, ten years ago,
from this magazine. The first time that I saw this unique shell, my
heart beat with joy,' continued the old man, with a voice that had
regained all the energy of youth. 'I was poor, but I must have it at
whatever price. I carried it home with me, and passed entire days in
contemplating it, and examining its minutest details. Two years were
necessary to make up its price--two entire years of privation. Each
month, I carried the dealer small sums, often spared from my most
pressing necessities. What mattered it? I possessed the shell; it was
mine alone; no one could show me its like. I would not permit any one to
describe it. When, on rare occasions, I displayed it to some initiated
ones, it was upon the condition that they would not speak of it in their
faunas. A lover madly enamored, is not more jealous than I then was,
than I still am, of this treasure. When the two years of which I have
spoken had elapsed, and I had paid the price of my dear spiral, I came
here one evening as usual. On opening, according to my custom, one of
the boxes that contain the shells, I uttered a cry. I had found another
spiral similar to that which I possessed! Judge of my sorrow, of my
despair. My shell was no longer unique. Another collection possessed a
treasure similar to mine. A cold sweat bathed my forehead. Though very
poor,