This memorable conversation took place, in fact, in the shop of my maternal uncle, a well-known dealer in antiquities and objets d'art, No. 53, Rue des Claquettes, at the sign of the "Maltese Cross"a perfect museum of curiosities.

Held in esteem by all, a Municipal Councillor, impressed by the importance and gravity of his office, short, fat, highly choleric and headstrong, but at bottom not in the least degree an unkind sort of mansuch was my uncle Cornubert, my only living male relative, who, as soon as I left school, had elevated me to the dignity of chief and only clerk and shopman of the "Maltese Cross.

As the virtue of these stones is still much boasted of by the Maltese, and as some, on the contrary, maintain that they are the petrified teeth of a fish called lamia, it will not be irrelevant here to relate some observations from the best authors on this interesting subject, so much to our purpose.

It is said that those eyes and tongues of serpents are only found by the Maltese when they dig into the earth, which is whitish throughout the island, or draw up stone, especially about the cave of St. Paul.

The virtues attributed by the Maltese to those eyes and tongues, and to the white earth which is found in the island, particularly in St. Paul's cave, and which is kept for use by the apothecaries, as the American bole, are very singular; for they reckon them not only a preservative against all sorts of poison, and an efficacious remedy for those who have taken poison, but also good in a number of diseases.

[Illustration: ORANGE.] ORANGE (Citrus Aurantium).The principal varieties are the sweet, or China orange, and the bitter, or Seville orange; the Maltese is also worthy of notice, from its red blood-like pulp.

Many countries in Southern Europe are in a state little superior, and the Moorish civilization is almost on a par with that of the Grecian, Sicilian, or Maltese, and quite equal to Turkish advancement in the arts and sciences of the nineteenth century.

"My first lessons in necromancy were received on the mole of Napoli, amid burly Inglesi, straight-nosed Greeks, swarthy Sicilians, and Maltese with spirits as fine as the gold of their own chains.

To lengthen the coat of this working breed they might very well have had recourse to a cross with the prick-eared Skye, and to eliminate the wiry texture of the hair a further cross with the Maltese dog would impart softness and silkiness without reducing the length.

CHAPTER XLVI THE MALTESE DOG AND THE PUG No doubt has been cast upon the belief that the small, white, silky Canis Melitaeus is the most ancient of all the lap dogs of the Western world.

" Early writers aver that it was customary when Maltese puppies were born to press or twist the nasal bone with the fingers "in order that they may seem more elegant in the sight of men"a circumstance which goes to show that our forefathers were not averse to improving artificially the points of their dogs.

The snowy whiteness and soft, silky texture of its coat must always cause the Maltese dog to be admired; but the variety has never been commonly kept in Englanda fact which is, no doubt, due to the difficulty of breeding it and to the trouble in keeping the dog's long jacket clean and free from tangle.

This popularity was largely due to the efforts of Mr. R. Mandeville, of Southwark, who has been referred to as virtually the founder of the modern Maltese.

It is a breed which to be kept in perfection requires more than ordinary attention, not only on account of its silky jacket, which is peculiarly liable to become matted, and is difficult to keep absolutely clean without frequent washing, but also on account of a somewhat delicate constitution, the Maltese being susceptible to colds and chills.

The following is the standard description and points of the Maltese Club of London: * * * * * HEADShould not be too narrow, but should be of a Terrier shape, not too long, but not apple-headed.

* There seems to be no doubt that the fawn-coloured Pug enjoys the antiquity of descent that is attached to the Greyhound, the Maltese dog, and some few other venerable breeds.

And as for the breathing, there was a large Maltese cat in the house that sometimes wandered about at night.

She enticed the Maltese cat to live in her rooms as much as possible, for its animal company.

But at that moment she caught sight of the Maltese cat's green eyes in shadow.

So they went to Veronica's room, and Elettra brought the tea things, and Matilde made tea, and they both drank it, and talked a little more, and gave the Maltese cat milk in a saucer, on the lower shelf of the little two-storied tea-table.

There's a wretched Maltese in a tree at the corner of Fourth Street that won't touch it, raw.

In short, is it not plain, that the words, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Maltese, Genoese, Milanese, and all others of like formation, should follow one and the same rule?

The Maltese Falcon.

Dashiell Hammett (A); 22Jan57; R185338. Maltese Falcon.

In every child's ear Billy whispered the name of some sort of cat, as for instance, tiger, "yaller," green-eyes, double-toes, maltese, Angora, black and white, gray.