116 
POLITICAL ECONOMY 
effected by the process of barter, which is 
apt not only to try the patience, but also to 
fail to effect satisfactorily the purposes of 
exchange. Its successful completion implies 
in every case a perfect double coincidence of 
wants. In order to do business by barter, it is 
necessary that a person should find some 
other person who not only possesses what the 
first wants, but also wants what the first has 
to offer. And it implies many other conditions 
which are notable by their absence commonly. 
The exchange of cattle on equitable terms for 
a limited quantity of small things would be 
found difficult, since a living ox is indivisible. 
Moreover, when there is no common medium of 
exchange, it is not easy to find out what the 
exchange value of things should be in view of 
the state of demand and supply. To know 
the value of wheat involves knowing how 
competition has settled its exchange rate 
against iron and clothing and other forms 
of food and furniture and what not. With 
the object—though not perhaps with the 
deliberate design—of escaping the multitude 
of inconveniences associated with barter, 
people got into the habit of selecting one or 
a few things to receive in payment for what 
they sold and to make purchases with. The 
thing or things chosen were naturally articles