358 FUTURE SUPPLIES CHAP. XXIX. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



On the prospect of future supplies of the precious metals. 



IT has been seen in the preceding chapter that 

 the prospect of increasing coined money by con- 

 verting utensils and ornaments into it, depends 

 on the state of tranquillity or of turbulence of the 

 several countries : in the first state, as substitutes 

 can be used for coin, it becomes less necessary; 

 and in the second case, as such substitutes are 

 unmaintainable, the coin will be likely to receive 

 additions from those various articles in which 

 the precious metals have been employed. There 

 may be action and reaction by which the quan- 

 tity of coin may be diminished or increased, 

 whilst in the whole portion of the precious metals 

 in existence there may be no general increase, or 

 there may be even a considerable decrease. 



The only general increase that can be contem- 

 plated must be from an augmentation of the pro- 

 duct of the mines, and it will not, therefore, be 

 irrelevant to our purpose to consider the proba- 

 bility of any large additions being made in future 

 to the quantities at present afforded from these 

 sources. 



We have seen, during the whole course of this 

 inquiry, that mines of the precious metals have 



