THE EVOLUTION OF SECURITIES 25 
certificates, but only in changing entries on the security register. 
In respect to danger of theft or loss, inscribed securities are 
undoubtedly the safest form known, since there is no certificate 
to steal or mislay. Dividends are paid by mailing checks to 
security holders. 
Registered Securities.—Registered securities resemble 
those which are inscribed, in that a register of holders is kept, 
upon which the names of holders can be transferred when 
changes in ownership occur. But, unlike inscribed issues, reg- 
istered securities have certificates which may be and are deliver- 
able in the stock market. Each registered certificate is made 
out in the name of the same individual or concern which stands 
on the register as the owner of the given securities, and thus 
the registered certificate serves as documentary evidence that 
the holder whose name it contains is also entered on the register 
as at least nominal owner of the given bonds or shares. 
Practically all American share securities are in registered 
form; most American bonds are “to bearer,” although some of 
them permit of conversion into registered bonds. In Great 
Britain, almost all share issues are registered, although the 
British Companies’ Act specifically provides for “share war- 
rants” or bearer shares, and a few British companies have 
issued them ; British bonds, however, are very largely registered 
or inscribed. On the Continent, registered securities are much 
less common than in the English-speaking countries; as a rule, 
Continental securities are registered only when some liability 
attaches to ownership (as in the case of part-paid shares) or 
under other exceptional circumstances. 
The methods of paying dividends or interest on registered 
securities vary according to the banking practices of different 
countries. In most English-speaking countries (including the 
United States and the United Kingdom) the public is thor- 
oughly familiar with deposit and checking accounts, and in 
consequence money checks can be mailed to the holders of 
registered securities as dividend or interest payments become