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 monev. But whatever the nature of the medium of exchange 

 adopted, it served as money ; 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 district or community any 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 



