PARIS MARKETS. 391 



grain being in the centre on the floor, and covered in by an iron 

 roof of admirable architectural construction. The building is 

 completely fire-proof. The grain is always brought to market in 

 sacks, and the building, it is said, is capable of containing 10,000 

 sacks. There are to be found here wheat, rye, barley, oats, 

 buckwheat, beans, peas, lentils, and vetches. Bureaus, or small 

 offices, are ranged round the circle on the inside for the factors, 

 or salesmen ; and, as in almost every other department of busi 

 ness in Prance, women are as much employed in the sale of grain 

 as men ; and there can be no doubt they manage with admirable 

 skill and address. Sharp trading seems often the characteristic 

 of the sex ; excepting only where the affections are concerned. 

 The Corn Exchange is held here two or three times a week. 



2. MEAT MARKETS. The meat markets are of the neatest 

 possible description ; but they are scattered about in shops. The 

 beef in Paris, in point of fatness, is much inferior to the Eng 

 lish ; yet it is of a fair quality. The mutton is likewise very 

 inferior to the English. Some persons complain of the English 

 beef and mutton, especially the Dishley mutton, as being much 

 too fat, and therefore attended with great waste. Veal, in 

 France, is not killed until it is full six months old, arid is of the 

 very finest description. The meat shops in Paris are shut in by 

 doors of iron grating, so as to admit a free circulation of air at 

 night, with cloths covering the meat to ward off the dust ; and 

 they are visited every morning by the police, and undergo a 

 strict examination, so that, if there is any meat of a bad descrip 

 tion, or which has remained on hand too long, it is at once con 

 demned and seized. The butchers in Paris are licensed, and laid 

 under heavy bonds to conform to the police regulations ; and the 

 meats and other articles brought into Paris are subject to a duty, 

 collected at the barriers, which goes towards the improvements 

 of the city. 



3. MARKETS FOR EGGS, BUTTER, CHEESE,, VEGETABLES, FRUITS. 

 POULTRY, FISH, &c. The market of the Innocents,* as it is 

 called, is one of the largest in Paris. This market is to undergo 

 great alterations, and a very large sum is in reserve to build it 



* Being the site of an old convent or nunnery. 



