CHAP. V. 



PRECIOUS METALS. 155 



matter when rolled into sheets is converted into 

 those beautiful pieces of domestic furniture 

 which ornament the tables and sideboards of 

 the middle classes of society, and enable them to 

 rival in brilliancy those of the richest families, 

 at a cost more proportionate to their means. 

 There are no traces in any of the writings of 

 antiquity of such an application of silver ; and 

 now, owing to the great surface which is exposed 

 to friction, and our neat and decent habits, 

 which require frequent cleaning and polishing, 

 an enormous consumption of silver is produced 

 in this way. 



From the difference in these several modes of 

 consumption, which have arisen in part from our 

 increased knowledge in the working of metals, 

 and from the diffusion of wealth into smaller, 

 but not minutely small, portions, which have had 

 a vast influence on the fashions of mankind, a 

 degree of destruction of gold and silver which 

 was scarcely felt in the ancient world has in 

 modern times been steadily, but of late rapidly, 

 advancing, and by its continuance must at length 

 produce a sensible effect on the value of all 

 commodities when measured by these metals. 



