THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MONEY DAVIDSON. 191 



shape of ornaments ; and some writers have spoken familiarly 

 of ring money as if it were really stamped and coined money 

 such as we use to-day. In reality, the so-called ring money was 

 an article of barter, circulating by weight. The ancient ring 

 money of Egypt, and of the early Celts and Teutons, is repre- 

 sented in Africa to-day by the coin currency of Calabar, and the 

 rod currenc} 7 of the Congo region, these being simply brass or 

 copper wire, soft enough to be bent into the rings and 

 bracelets, and other ornaments in which the African black takes 

 delight. 



When man advances to the pastoral stage, which he has done, 

 and apparently can do, only in the temperate climes in which 

 cattle can live, we find him estimating his wealth in cattle ; and 

 naturally the medium of exchange adopted by such societies is 

 that which all desire, and all in a measure possess. Most of the 

 civilized nations have long since left their cattle currencies cen- 



o 



turies behind ; but still in their language and archaeological 

 remains, in their literatures and their religious customs, there 

 survive traces of the days when cattle formed their standard of 

 value and their medium of exchange. " It is very possible that 

 kine were first exclusively valued for their flesh and milk ; but 

 it is .clear that in very early times a distinct and special 

 importance belonged to them as the instrument or medium of 

 exchange."* 



The Latin term "pecunia" is derived from " pecus," a herd ; 

 the English " fee " is from the Anglo-Saxon " feoh," which sur- 

 vives in the cognate German from Vieh cattle ; and rupae is said 

 to be derived from the Sanskrit rupa, which also means cattle ; 

 and in the Book of Job the word K/sitch (= a lamb) is employed 

 to signify a piece of money. "f 



The veneration in which the cow is held in modern India by 

 a people to whom the eating of beef is an abomination, is held 

 by some to point back to the ages when the ancestors of these 

 people in some more northern region had a great respect for 



Maine : The Early History of Institutions, p. 149. 

 t Wilkinson ; The Ancient Egyptians, Vol. II., p. 151. 



