BILL OF EXCHANGE. 
the commercial countries of the world. Among 
the various merchants of the United States, for 
instance, some have sent goods to England, others 
to France, and others to,Holland, and each one 
may wish to import goods from a country other 
than that where his funds he. One, accordingly, 
sells exchange on Amsterdam, and buys exchange 
on London, or, which is the same thing in effect, 
as far as he is concerned, he orders his corre- 
spondent at Amsterdam to buy exchange on Lon- 
don, and remit it thither for his (the merchant’s) 
account. If the funds which some merchants 
have in each foreign place are exactly equal to 
what is wanted by others in the same place, the 
whole transaction is only a transfer among them- 
selves of each other’s claims, or exchange, and no 
balance remains; whereas, without this facility, 
one must order specie home from Amsterdam, 
which the other would purchase of him to ship 
it to London; a transaction involving much de- 
lay, besides the expense of freight and insur- 
ance. But still, all the merchants of the country 
may wish to invest or pay greater sums abroad 
than the proceeds of all the exports already made 
or making from the country amount to, in which 
case the course of exchange is said to be against 
the country, and, in this case, as in all others 
where the quantity of an article wanted is greater 
than that offered in the market, the price will 
rise, and foreign exchange will be above par. So, 
if the quantity of exchange demanded on any 
particular country is greater than that offered, 
the rate of exchange, in respect to that particu- 
lar country, is unfavourable, and rises. This has 
most generally been the case in the United 
States, in respect to England. So, vice versa, 
if the funds belonging to Americans, in any par- 
ticular foreign country, are greater than the sum 
wanted by other Americans to make payments or 
investments there, the rate of exchange with that 
particular country is favourable, and the price of 
it falls. And it is to be observed, that what is 
called a favourable rate of exchange is, in fact, 
unfavourable to the person having funds abroad, 
who wishes to realize them at home; for he must, 
in that case, sell, at home, his foreign exchange, 
for a smaller sum than its nominal amount. It 
is to be borne in ‘mind, therefore, that an un- 
favourable rate of exchange is not necessarily 
disadvantageous to a country. ‘To follow out the 
inquiry, and determine in what circumstances it 
is actually disadvantageous or indifferent, or in 
fact advantageous, would occupy more space than 
we can give to the subject. But we perceive 
from this operation of the system of exchange, 
that it is only necessary, at most, to ship abroad, 
or import from abroad, in specie, the actual bal- 
ance on the whole aggregate of debts and credits, 
all the items of which, as far as they offset each 
other, are adjusted by exchange; and it is by no 
means always the case that this aggregate balance 
is paid in specie; for the very circumstance of 
the rise of exchange on any particular country 
BINDWEED. 419 
may make the trade more favourable, and induce 
shipments, the proceeds of which are drawn for 
as soon as the shipments are made ; so that, in 
such a case, the unfavourable balance may be 
actually advantageous, by promoting trade. 
BILL OF LADING. A memorandum signed 
by masters of ships, acknowledging the receipt 
of goods intrusted to them for transportation. 
There are usually triplicate copies, one for the 
party sending, another for the party to whom 
the goods are sent, and the third for the captain. 
BIN, or Binn. A coarse fixed box, or structure 
resembling a large open chest, or crib, for hold- 
ing corn or other agricultural produce. The corn- 
bin of the stable contains grain or other proven- 
der for the supply of the horses; the yard-bin 
contains straw or other bulky fodder for the sup- 
ply of the animals of the farm-yard; and bins of 
other forms contain hops, bottled wine, or other 
matters, and are called hop-bins, wine-bins, &c. 
BINDWEED, — botanically Convolvulus. A 
large genus of very interesting herbaceous plants, 
forming the type of the order Convolvulacez. 
The genera of this order are Retzia, Convolvulus, 
Tpomeea, Cressa, Cuscuta, Dichondra, Evolvulus, 
Dinetus, Argyreia, Calystegia, Porana, Morenoa, 
and Falkia. A few are shrubs, many are annuals, 
most are twining plants or literally bindweeds, 
several are highly medicinal plants, and a large 
proportion are highly ornamental, with hand- 
some, showy flowers, which expand beneath a 
play of sunshine. Such as grow among agricul- 
tural crops have creeping roots or climbing 
stems, and are very difficult of extirpation. 
Scammony, jalap, and other drugs, are products 
of convolvulacese; and several stimulating, and 
two kinds of eatable roots, one of the latter the 
sweet potato of America and the south of Eu- 
rope, belong to the genus Ipomcea. 
A considerable number of species formerly be- 
longing to the genus Convolvulus have been 
assigned by modern botanists to the genera Ipo- 
moea and Calystegia, and must still be regarded 
as strictly bindweeds. The number of species 
still regarded by all botanists as true convolvuli, 
is about 200; and of these, one grows wild as a 
troublesome weed in Great Britain, one is a me- 
dicinal plant, and nearly sixty are cultivated in 
British gardens, a few as curiosities, but most as 
elegant flowering plants. One of those grown in 
Britain is a biennial; eleven are annuals; and 
the others are variously hardy, greenhouse, or 
stove perennials. We can afford to take special 
notice of only a few of the most interesting or 
best known. 
The corn-field bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis, 
is & perennial twiner, has usually a flesh-coloured 
flower, blooms from June till September, and 
generally attains a height of about 18 inches. It 
is variously called withwind, gravel bindweed, 
smaller field bindweed, and devil’s guts; and, in 
spite of possessing much beauty, is abhorred by 
both farmers and gardeners for its great annoy- 
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