212 ADAM SMITH. 



ner in which all exchanges are effected. As every 

 thing is the produce of labour, as " all is the gift of in- 

 dustry," there may be some ground for thus reducing 

 all within the bounds of the same book ; nevertheless, 

 these other subjects would have been more logically 

 kept distinct from labour, inasmuch as the live chapters 

 which we have analysed, relate to labour alone, and to 

 labour of every kind, and labour forms the only sub- 

 ject of their discussion ; whereas the remaining six re- 

 late to other things as well as labour, and the greater 

 part of these discussions refer not to labour at all. 



ii. The second subdivision of the book relates to 

 the manner of effecting exchanges ; and this introduces, 

 first, the subject of money ; ancl great part of the fifth 

 chapter treats of the money price of commodities, as 

 contradistinguished from their real price. It includes, 

 secondly, the subject of prices. The sixth and seventh 

 chapters treat of this. 



1. The great inconvenience of traffic by barter, which 

 made it impossible for one person to exchange any com- 

 modity with another, unless each wanted exactly the 

 same quantity which the other had to give, equally 

 impossible to obtain what was wanted in one place, 

 without sending what was redundant to the other place, 

 and equally impossible to obtain what was wanted at 

 one time from a person who did not want the thing 

 given for it at the same time, set men upon making 

 two inventions, the one of falling upon some commo- 

 dity generally desirable, produced in moderate quan- 

 tities, and capable of being easily and exactly divided 

 into portions as well as easily transported and easily 

 preserved, which might be exchanged for all other 

 commodities, and thus become, as it were, a material 

 or tangible measure of their exchangeable value, as 

 well as an easy medium of carrying on all exchanges ; 

 the other of agreeing, that when any bargain was made 

 for the exchange of commodities, he who did not im- 

 mediately want to have the article delivered to which 



