The Old Weevils 
crowns. It is an emblem of Egypt, con- 
quered by the veterans who founded the 
colony. The beast typifying the Nile 
gnashes its teeth at the foot of the familiar 
tree. It speaks to us of Antony, the Don 
Juan; it tells us of Cleopatra, whose nose, 
had it been an inch shorter, would have 
changed the face of the globe. Thanks to 
the memories which it awakens, the scaly- 
backed reptile becomes a superb historical 
lesson. 
In this way, the important lessons of the 
numismatics of metals might be continued for 
many a day and be constantly varied without 
departing from my immediate neighbour- 
hood. But there is another science of numis- 
matics, far superior and less costly, which, 
with its medals, the fossils, tells us the his- 
tory of life. I refer to the numismatics 
of stones. 
'My very window-sill, the confidant of by- 
gone ages, talks to me of a vanished world. 
It is, literally speaking, an ossuary, whose 
every particle retains the imprint of past 
lives. That block of stone has _ lived. 
Prickly spines of Sea-urchins, teeth and verte- 
bre of fish, broken pieces of shells and 
7 
