ABSTRACT

To the inhabitants of these arcades we are pointed now and then by the signs and inscriptions which multiply along the walls within, where here and there, between the shops, a spiral staircase rises into darkness. The signs have little in common with the nameplates that hang beside respectable entryways but are reminiscent of plaques on the cages of zoos, put there to indicate not so much the dwelling place as the origin and species of the captive animals.