4O6 THE OCEAN WORLD. 



to 6,000 francs ; the bargain was made, and the price agreed upon ; 

 it was only necessary to pay. The money in the Professor's hands 

 made only a small part of the sum the merchant was to receive for 



his shell, and he would not part with it without payment. M. R , 



now consulting his desire to possess the shell more than his weak 

 resources, made up secretly a parcel of his scanty plate, and went out 

 to sell it. Without consulting his wife, he replaced his silver plate 

 by articles of tin, and ran to the merchant to secure his coveted 

 Spondylus, which he believed to be S. regius. 



" The hour of dinner arrived, and we may imagine the astonish- 

 ment of Madame R , who could not comprehend the strange 



metamorphosis of her plate. She delivered herself of a thousand 



painful conjectures on the subject. M. R , on his part, returned 



home happy with his shell, which he had committed to the safe 

 custody of a box placed in his coat pocket. But, as he approached 

 the house, he paused, and began for the first time to think of the 

 reception he might meet with. The reproaches which awaited him, 

 however, were compensated when he thought of the treasure he 



carried home. Finally, he reached home, and Madame R 's 



wrath was worthy of the occasion ; the poor man was overwhelmed 

 with the grief he had caused his wife ; his courage altogether forsook 

 him. He forgot his shell, and, in his trepidation, seated himself on 

 a chair without the necessary adjustment of his garment. He was 

 only reminded of his treasure by hearing the crushing sound of the 

 breaking box which contained it. Fortunately, the evil was not very 

 great two spines only of the shell were broken ; but the good man's 



grief made so great an impression on Madame R , that she no 



longer thought of her own loss, but directed all her efforts to console 

 the simple-minded philosopher." 



The variation in the number and direction of the spines is a 

 striking feature in Spondylus. When the whole lower surface adheres 

 to branches of coral a very frequent occurrence they are confined to 

 the upper valve ; but when a part only of the valve is so adherent, 

 the whole surface becomes covered. 



