Broun Brothers Fig. 170. The Bank of England, to the left. For two centuries ‘‘ the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street’’ has been the center of the commercial and financial world. The London Stock Exchange is shown to the right. CHAPTER TWENTY MANUFACTURING OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES MobErN manufacturing had its beginnings in Europe, and there it is supreme today. The continent not only cares for its own needs almost entirely, but supplies most of the rest of the world with vast quantities of manufactured articles. Not all of Europe, however, engages intensively in manufacturing. The manufacturing section is found in western Europe and includes Great Britain, France, Germany, and the small adjoining countries, — Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland. Detached manufacturing areas flourish in northern [taly, southern Sweden, and northeastern Spain; Czecho-Slovakia carries some special industries to a high point of excellence; and small industrial areas and local industries are scattered elsewhere in Europe. Nevertheless, the bulk of the manufacturing, especially of the great staples of industry, is done in the six countries first men- tioned. Why western Europe carries on most of the manufacturing of the continent. Western Europe holds the same relation to the rest of Europe that our northeastern section holds to the rest of the United States. It occupies only one seventh of Europe, yet it produces more than three fourths of the manufactures. 284