THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MONEY—DAVIDSON. 181 
weapons. Hence, gold had little utility for him, and the trans- 
port service was burdened with large quantities of bulky 
Austrian silver dollars. There are certain qualities which 
civilized communities require in the medium of exchange; but 
in early commerce these were not always demanded, perhaps 
often not even thought of. Each community has selected the 
commodity which best suits its conditions, and in the course of 
progress each has adopted and in time abandoned many kinds 
of money. But whatever the nature of the medium of exchange 
adopted, it served as rnoney ; and it is justly entitled to be called 
money, even although not metallic, or not coined ; for, after all, 
as Prof. Walker says, “ Money is that money does.” For the 
needs of modern trade, primitive money materials are entirely 
unsuited ; but they serve their own purpose, and as in the eyes 
of an early missionary to the Mexicans who, contemplating the 
bags of cocoanuts used by the Aztecs, exclaimed, “ Blessed 
money ! which exempts its possessors from avarice since it can 
not be long hoarded or hidden under ground,” primitive money 
may have peculiar advantages of its own! 
When in any distriet or community anv particular com- 
modity comes into general use, and is readily available, it 
generally comes in time to be unit of value and the medium of 
exchange. Its nature will, of course, depend on the climate and 
geographical position of the district ; and may be changed when 
the community advances to another stage of culture. The 
natural medium of exchange may be altered, even although the 
community has made no such advance. When a primitive com- 
munity comes into commercial contact with a more advanced 
race, an entirely new medium of exchange may be adopted. 
Thus, gin and gunpowder are, according to Bishop Tugwell, of 
Uganda, to all intents and purposes, the only currency in certain 
parts of Africa, The foreign trader may create a new value by 
his demand for produce which hitherto has been little esteemed. 
In the Caroline Islands stone money in the form of quartz 
wheels, varying from six inches to twelve in diameter, was 
formerly the money the natives used; but since the advent of 
