t is very large--one hundred and sixteen
feet long and seventy-six feet broad. Just below the cornice are
inscribed the names of the principal cities in the world, and over the
middle arch there is a clock, which on an opposite dial-plate marks the
direction of the wind out of doors.

The hall is lighted from the roof--the ceiling is covered with fine
paintings, or as they are styled "monochrane drawings." Europe, Asia,
Africa, and America are represented in groups. In one, the city of Paris
is represented as delivering her keys to the God of Commerce, and
inviting Commercial Justice to enter the walls prepared for her.

The hall is paved with a fine marble, and two thousand persons can be
accommodated upon the central floor. There is a smaller inclosure at the
east end, where the merchants and stockholders transact their daily
business. The hours are from one o'clock to three for the public stocks,
and till half past five for all others. The public is allowed to visit
the Bourse from nine in the morning till five at night. A very singular
regulation exists in reference to the ladies. No woman is admitted into
the Bourse without a special order from the proper authorities. The
cause for this is the fact that years ago, when ladies were admitted to
the Bourse, they became very much addicted to gambling there, and also
enticed the gentlemen into similar practices. It is not likely that the
old stockholders were tempted into any vicious practices, but the
presence of women was enough to attract another class of men--idlers and
fashionable gamblers--until the exchange was turned into a
gambling-saloon. The matter was soon set to rights when women were shut
out.

Paris was formerly without an Exchange, and the merchants held their
meetings in an old building which John Law, the celebrated financier,
once occupied. They afterward met in the Palais Royal, and still later,
in a comparatively obscure street. The first stone of the Bourse was
laid on the 28th of March, 1808, and the works proceeded with dispatch
till 1814, when they were suspended. It was completed in 1826. The
architect who designed it died when it was half completed, but the plan
was carried out, though by a new architect. It is now a model building
of its kind, and cost nearly nine millions of francs. In comprehensive
magnificence it has no rival in Paris--perhaps not in the world. The
Royal Exchange of London, though a fine building, is a pigmy beside this