The Inst edition has been edited by Mr. William F. Spalding, an. economist. of world wide repute. The excellence of the book's original arrangement and contents, combined with the knowledge of the author of the 27th edition, vouchsafe for the authenticity and the trae value of the subject matter. The book's plan has remained materiall unaltered. After giving brief de! tions of factors connected with foreign exchange it describes, the monetary systems of the world ai cording to continents and individual countries. Thereafter follows a discussion, illustrated by examples and formulae, of banking operations, of arbitrations in exchange, of bullion transactions and about the silver market.
The issue of the 27th edition has been necessitated by.the kaleidoseopic changes brought about by the World War. Amongst the consequences of the great upheaval were the creation of new countries with new currency systems and the many changes necessitated by the debasement and depreciation of other countries' monetary systems. the author himself points out: take Europe alone, before the war there were 10° distinct units; 1925 there are 27 different monetary units, and. the number seems likely to increase". he treatment by Mr. Spalding'
the world's monetary systems is Jat irreproachable—with one'exceptios China. Probably we, who have been residing in the Far East for many years' have unconsciously adopted the habit of demanding the world's attention for everything. connected with China. Yet even. the more impartial observer will admit that. the treatment of China's monetary system in the last edition of the "Cambist" leaves very much to be a from the point of lucidity and exhaustion. The space reserve ed for China's currency consists of merely 10 pages, not considering the classification of weights and Information about China But the information contained in those 10 pages is often out of date, at places irrelevant and generally superficial. People are prone to forget that China has risen from her lethargy and thrown off within a decade what she had adopted and retained for centuries. In order to avoid generalities let us cite a few examples which require reconsider: tion:
(a) The first phrase on China, page 230, is incorrect," since it states: "The dollar unit popular-Ly used in China is the so-called Mexican, the exchange value of which fluctuates daily. Tt is approximately the equivalent of U. S. $0.50", Such a statement would probably admirably fit into a guide book for foreign tourists, but should not appear in a work on foreign exchanges. The Mexican dollar was in former years the most wide used foreign coin in China, but it was never a part of the Chinese currency system. Already since 1890 China has ireulation of the dollar as a nati coin.
'The Mexican dollar, during the past decade, been' rapidly, vanishing from China,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.