How cents. At the expiration of the term he received $33. many days did he work, and how many days was he idle? Ans. He labored 75 days, and was idle 15 days. The following question, with some variation in the language, is taken from Fenn's Algebra, page 62. It is believed, however, that Sir Isaac Newton was the author of it. 8. If 12 oxen eat 34 acres of grass in 4 weeks, and 21 oxen eat 10 acres in 9 weeks, how many oxen would it require to eat 24 acres in 18 weeks, the grass to be growing uniformly? Ans. 36 oxen. OPERATION BY ANALYSIS. Each ox eats a certain quantity in each week, which we may suppose to be 100 pounds; and of the whole quantity eaten in each case, a part must have already grown during the time of eating. Then, by the first conditions of the question, 12 × 4 × 100=4800lbs. = whole quantity on 34 acres for 4 weeks. 4800311440lbs. whole quantity on 1 acre for 4 weeks. By the second conditions of the question, 21 × 9 × 100 = 18900lbs. whole quantity on 10 acres for 9 weeks. 18900÷10=1890lbs. = whole quantity on 1 acre for 9 weeks. 1890-1440-450lbs. the quantity grown on an acre for 9-4-5 weeks. 450 ÷ 9—4— 90lbs. the quantity which grows on each acre for 1 week. 90 × 3 × 4 = 1200lbs. = quantity grown on 3 acres for 4 weeks. 4800-1200 3600lbs. original quantity of grass on 31 acres. 3600÷3 1080lbs. — original quantity on 1 acre. Then, by the last condition of the question, 24 × 1080 = 25920lbs. = original quantity on 24 acres. 24 x 90 x 1838880lbs. quantity which grows on 24 acres in 18 weeks. 259203888064800lbs. = whole quantity on 24 acres for 18 weeks. 64800 18 3600lbs. = quantity to be eat from 24 acres each week. 3600 ÷ 100 = 36 = number of oxen required to eat the whole, and the answer to the question. 9. There is a fish whose head weighs 15 pounds, his tail weighs as much as his head and as much as his body, and his body weighs as much as his head and tail. What was the weight of the fish? Ans. 72lbs. 10. Suppose a clock to have an hour-hand, a minute-hand, and a second-hand, all turning on the same centre. At 12 o'clock all the hands are together and point at 12. " (1.) How long will it be before the second-hand will be between the other two hands, and at equal distances from each? Ans. 60-780 seconds. 1427 (2.) Also before the minute-hand will be equally distant between the other two hands? Ans. 616 seconds. (3.) Also before the hour-hand will be equally distant between the other two hands? Ans. 59 seconds. SECTION LXXIII. EXCHANGE. EXCHANGE is the act of paying or receiving the money of one country for its equivalent in the money of another country, by means of Bills of Exchange. This operation, therefore, comprehends both the reduction of moneys and the negotiation of bills. It determines the comparative value of the currencies of all nations, and shows how foreign debts are discharged, loans and subsidies paid, and other remittances made from one country to another, without the risk, trouble, or expense of transporting specie or bullion. BILLS OF EXCHANGE. A Bill of Exchange is a written order for the payment of a certain sum of money, at an appointed time. It is a mercantile contract, in which four persons are mostly concerned; viz. 1. The drawer, who receives the value, and is also called the maker and seller of the bill. 2. The person upon whom the bill is drawn is called the drawee. He is also called the acceptor, when he accepts the bill, which is an engagement to pay it when due. 3. The person who gives value for the bill, who is called the buyer, taker, and remitter. 4. The person to whom it is ordered to be paid, who is called the payee, and who may, by indorsement, pass it to any other person. Most mercantile payments are made in Bills of Exchange, which generally pass from hand to hand, until due, like any other circulating medium; and the person who at any time has a bill in his possession is called the holder. When the holder of a bill disposes of it, he writes his name on the back, which is called indorsing; and the payee should be the first indorser. If the bill be indorsed in favor of any particular person, it is called a special indorsement; and the person to whom it is thus made payable is called the indorsee, who must also indorse the bill if he negotiates it. Any person may indorse a bill, and every indorser (as well as the acceptor, or payee) is a security for the bill, and may therefore be sued for payment. The term of a bill varies according to the agreement between the parties, or the custom of countries. Some bills are drawn at sight; others, at a certain number of days, or months, after sight or after date; and some, at usance, which is the customary or usual term between different places. Days of grace are a certain number of days granted to the acceptor, after the term of a bill is expired. Three days are usually allowed. In reckoning when a bill, payable after date, becomes due, the day on which it is dated is not included; and if it be a bill payable after sight, the day of presentment is not included. When the term is expressed in months, calendar months are understood; and when a month is longer than the preceding, it is a rule not to go in the computation into a third month. Thus, if a bill be dated the 28th, 29th, 30th, or 31st of January, and payable one month after date, the term equally expires on the last day of February, to which the days of grace must, of course, be added; and therefore the bill becomes due on the 3d of March. Form of a Bill of Exchange. Exchange for £5,000 sterling. Boston, September 25, 1835. At ninety days' sight of this, my first Bill of Exchange (second and third of the same tenor and date unpaid), pay to James Ayer, or order, five thousand pounds sterling, with or without further advice. John L. French. Messrs. Dana & Hyde, Merchants, Liverpool. ACCEPTING BILLS. When a bill is presented for acceptance, it is generally left till the next day; and the common way of accepting is for the drawee to write his name at the bottom, or across the body of the bill, with the word accepted. When two or more persons are in partnership, the acceptance of one binds all the others, if the bill concerns their joint trade; but if it should be made known to the person who receives the bill that it concerns the acceptor only, in a distinct interest, he alone, as acceptor, can be sued. A clerk or servant may accept a bill for his master, when he has authority for that purpose; or if he usually transacts business of this nature for him; and his acceptance binds the master. But if the bill be drawn nominally on the servant, directing him to place it to the account of his master, and if the servant should accept it generally, without specifying that he does it for his master's account, the acceptance binds the servant only, and not his employer. When a bill is drawn for the account of a third person, and is accepted as such, and he fails without making provision for its payment, the acceptor must discharge the bill, and can have no recourse against the drawer. A bill may be accepted to be paid at a longer period than is mentioned in the bill, or to pay a part of the sum only; such an acceptance is binding on him who made it; but the holder is at liberty to take it as it is offered, or to act as if acceptance had been entirely refused. INDORSING BILLS. Bills payable to bearer are transferred by simple delivery, and without any indorsement; but in order to transfer a bill payable to order, the holder must express his order of paying to another person, which is always done by an indorsement. An indorsement may be blank or special. A blank indorsement consists only of the indorser's name, and the bill becomes then transferable by simple delivery; a special indorsement orders the money to be paid to some particular person, or to his order; a blank indorsement may always be filled up with any person's name, so as to make it special. An indorsement may take place at any time after the bill is issued, even after the day of payment is elapsed. A person who receives a bill with a blank indorsement may take it as indorsee, negotiate it again, or demand payment on his own account, or he may receive the money as agent, or for the account of the indorser; and the latter, notwithstanding his indorsement, may still appear as holder in an action against the drawer or acceptor. A special indorsement need not contain the words to order, and the bill is negotiable; it may also be restrictive, giving authority to the indorsee to receive the money for the indorser, but not to transfer the bill again to another. An indorsement for part of the money only is not valid, except with regard to him who makes it. The drawer and acceptor are not bound by it. When the holder of a bill dies, his executors may indorse it; but by so doing they become answerable to their indorsee personally, and not as executors. PROTESTING BILLS. When acceptance or payment has been refused, the holder of the bill should give regular and immediate notice to all the parties to whom he intends to resort for payment; and if, on account of unnecessary delay, a loss should be incurred by the failure of any of the parties, the holder must bear the loss. With respect to the manner in which notices of non-acceptance or non-payment are to be given, a difference exists between inland and foreign bills. For foreign bills a protest is indispensably necessary; thus, a public notary is to appear with the bill, and to demand either acceptance or payment; and, on being refused, he is to draw up an instrument, called a protest, expressing that acceptance or payment has been demanded and refused, and that the holder of the bill intends to recover any damages which he may sustain in consequence. This instrument is admitted in foreign countries as legal proof of the fact. It is customary, as a precaution against accidents or miscarriage, to draw three copies of a foreign bill, and to send them by different posts. They are denominated the first, second, and third of exchange; and when any one of them is paid, the rest become void and of no value. When the acceptor of a bill becomes insolvent, or absconds before the term of payment is expired, the holder may cause a notary to demand better security, and, on that being refused, to protest the bill for |