[2 
BANKING STANDARDS 
in alternative form seemed likely to indicate norms and trends 
significant for the purposes in mind. The study is not one of 
ratios as such; it is rather an analysis of the variability of a se- 
lected number of ratios, undertaken for the express purpose of 
discovering, of measuring, and of comparing their nature and de- 
gree of consistency from time to time and from district to district.