Tlie Auction System 175 



sale, and detailing the contents of each package, the number of 

 pieces, the varieties of quality, by number or otherwise, and the 

 lengths ; all of which is guaranteed to the purchaser. The 

 widths are also in some instances specified, but always with a 

 reservation expressed in the conditions of the sale, on the printed 

 catalogues, or published by verbal explanation, that there is on 

 that point no warranty, except that the goods not exhibited shall 

 correspond in this as well as in every other respect with the 

 samples shown; . . . 



"The packages are arranged in lots corresponding with their 

 numbers on the catalogue, and are exhibited sometimes two entire 

 days before the sale, sometimes but one; the length of the exhibi- 

 tion being regulated by the magnitude of the sale. When the 

 goods are prepared for inspection, the purchasers are invited by 

 public notice in the papers to examine them. Where it is neces- 

 sary for an advantageous examination, whole packages are dis- 

 played; where it can be made with more convenience from 

 samples, one or more pieces of each quality are exhibited ; and 

 where there are many packages exactly corresponding one only 

 is shown. 



"Pattern cards are exhibited displaying the assortment of 

 colors, etc. The purchaser receives every information and facility 

 that can contribute to his convenience and protect him from 

 mistake. The goods are arranged with so much attention to the 

 accommodation of the purchasers, that three or four hundred 

 packages may be examined with care and accuracy in one day. 



"On the day of sale the purchasers assemble, each prepared 

 with a catalogue marked with his estimate of the value of the 

 articles wanted ; a practice that not only guards the buyer against 

 any disadvantageous excitement which competition naturally pro- 

 duces, and refers him to the deliberate opinion formed upon care- 

 ful examination before the sale, but also promotes a general 

 knowledge of merchandise in every variety, and creates a useful 

 register of the fluctuations of the market, as these catalogues are 

 generally preserved, with notes in the margin of the prices at 

 which every article has been sold. 



"At the commencement of the sale the conditions are recapitu- 

 lated by the auctioneer, among which is a provision that no 

 allowance will be made for damage or deficiency after the goods 



