THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES.

VOL. XVII.

a

THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES.

The following is a List of the Volumes already published.

I. THE FORMS OF WATER IN CLOUDS AND RIVERS,
ICE AND GLACIERS. By J. TYNDALL, LL.D., F.R.S. With 26 Illustrations.
Edition. Price 5s.

Fifth

II. PHYSICS AND POLITICS; OR, THOUGHTS ON THE APPLICATION

OF THE PRINCIPLES OF "NATURAL SELECTION" AND "INHERITANCE" TO POLITICAL
SOCIETY. BY WALTER BAGEHOT. Third Edition. Price 4s.

III. FOODS. By EDWARD SMITH, M.D., LL.B., F.R.S. Profusely Illustrated.

Third Edition. Price 58.

IV. MIND AND BODY: THE THEORIES OF THEIR RELATION. By ALEXANDER BAIN, LL.D., Professor of Logic at the University of Aberdeen. With Four Illustrations. Fourth Edition. Price 4s.

V. THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY. By HERBERT SPENCER. Fifth

Edition. Price 58.

VI. THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. BY PROFESSOR BAL-
FOUR STEWART. With 14 Engravings. Third Edition. Price 58.

VII. ANIMAL LOCOMOTION; OR, WALKING, SWIMMING, AND FLYING.
By J. BELL PETTIGREW, M.D., F.R.S. With 119 Illustrations. Second Edition. Price 58.
VIII. RESPONSIBILITY IN MENTAL DISEASE.
HENRY MAUDSLEY. Second Edition. Price 5s.

By DR.

IX. THE NEW CHEMISTRY. BY PROFESSOR JOSIAH P. COOKE, of the Harvard University. With 31 Illustrations. Second Edition. Price 5s.

X. THE SCIENCE OF LAW. By PROFESSOR SHELDON AMOS, M.A. Second Edition. Price 58.

XI. ANIMAL MECHANISM.

A Treatise on Terrestrial and Aërial

Locomotion. By PROFESSOR E. J. MAREY. With 117 Illustrations. Second Edition.
Price 58.

XII. THE DOCTRINE OF DESCENT AND DARWINISM.
By PROFESSOR OSCAR SCHMIDT (Strasburg University). With 26 Illustrations. Second
Edition. Price 58.
XIII. HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN RELIGION
AND SCIENCE. By JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER, M.D., LL.D., Professor in the University of
New York; Author of "A Treatise on Human Physiology." Fifth Edition. Price 58.
XIV. FUNGI: THEIR NATURE, INFLUENCES, AND USES.
By M. C. COOKE, M.A., LL.D. Edited by the Rev. M. J. BERKELEY, M.A., F.L.S. Profusely
Illustrated. Second Edition. Price 58.

XV. THE CHEMICAL EFFECTS OF LIGHT AND PHOTOGRAPHY, in their Application to Art, Science, and Industry. By DR. HERMANN VOGEL (Polytechnic Academy of Berlin). Third Edition. The translation thoroughly revised. With 100 Illustrations, including some beautiful specimens of Photography. Price 5s.

XVI, THE LIFE AND GROWTH OF LANGUAGE, By W. D. WHITNEY, Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology in Yale College, New Haven. Second Edition. Price 58.

XVII. MONEY AND THE MECHANISM OF EXCHANGE.
By W. STANLEY JEVONS, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Logic and Political Economy in the
Owen's College, Manchester. Third Edition. Price 5s.

XVIII. THE NATURE OF LIGHT; with a General Account of Physical
Optics. Ry DR. EUGENE LOMMEL, Professor of Physics in the University of Erlangen. Second
Edition. With 188 Illustrations and a Plate of Spectra in Chromolithography. Price 58.
For List of Forthcoming Volumes see the Catalogue at the end of the Book.

MONEY AND

THE MECHANISM OF EXCHANGE.

BY

W. STANLEY JEVONS, M.A., F.R.S.,

PROFESSOR OF LOGIC AND POLITICAL ECONOMY IN THE

OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHESTER.

SECOND EDITION.

HENRY S. KING & Co., LONDON.

1876.

(The rights of translation and reproduction are reserved.)

PREFACE.

IN preparing this volume, I have attempted to write a descriptive essay on the past and present monetary systems of the world, the materials employed to make money, the regulations under which the coins are struck and issued, the natural laws which govern their circulation, the several modes in which they may be replaced by the use of paper documents, and finally, the method in which the use of money is immensely economized by the cheque and clearing system now being extended and perfected.

This is not a book upon the currency question, as that question is so often discussed in England. I have only a little to say about the Bank Charter Act, and upon that, and other mysteries of the money market, I refer my readers to the admirable essay of Mr. Bagehot