483. Foreign exchange. If a man buys foreign goods, he often has to send money abroad. 484. Table of English money: 12 pence (d.) = 1 shilling (s.) = $0.243 +. We commonly think of the pound as 485. Table of French money: about $5, the shilling Canada uses the same 100 centimes (c.) = 1 franc (fr.) = $0.193. We commonly think of the franc as 209. 100 pfennigs (pf.) = 1 mark (M.) = $0.238. ORAL EXERCISE Taking the above approximate values, state about how much the following sums represent in our money : T 34. Express $40 approximately as German money; as English money; as French money. Taking £1 as equal to $4.87, express in our money: 25. £75. 26. £68. 27. £16 10s. Taking £1 as equal to $4.87, express in English money: 28. $38.96. 29. $24.35. 30. $43.83. Taking 1 M. as equal to 23.8%, express in our money: 31. 75 M. 32. 125 M. 33. 3750 M. Taking 1 M. as equal to 23.8¢, express in German money: 34. $9.52. 35. $14.28. 36. $71.40. Taking 1 fr. as equal to 19.3%, express in our money: 37. 85 fr. 38. 230 fr. 39. 750 fr. 487. Bills of exchange. Foreign drafts are also called bills of exchange. 488. Rate of exchange. The rate of foreign exchange varies continually, depending on the demand. Thus, when English exchange is quoted at 4.90 (that is, a draft for £1 costs $4.90) it is above par, for 4.8665 is par. 489. Foreign quotations. English exchange is quoted at dollars to the pound, as 4.92. French exchange is quoted either at francs to the dollar, 5.14 meaning that $1 will buy a draft for 5.14 fr., or at cents to the franc, 19.7 meaning that a draft for 1 fr. costs 19.7 ct. German exchange is quoted at cents to the 4 marks, 97 meaning that a draft for 4 M. costs 97 ct., or at cents to the mark, 24.1 meaning that a draft for 1 M. costs 24.1 ct. 490. At present much of the foreign exchange for small sums is carried on by post-office or express money orders. 491. Newspaper quotations. Exchange is often quoted thus: This means that a £1 draft on England (sterling) will cost $4.83 if payable on demand (at sight), $4.79 if payable 60 days after sight, or $4.77 90 days after sight. The quotations for the following examples may be taken as above or from a newspaper. 492. Illustrative problems. 1. What will a 60-day draft for £40 cost? 1. £1 costs $4.79. 2. £40 cost 40 times $4.79 = $191.60. 2. What will a demand draft for 75 M. cost? 1. 5.23 fr. cost $1, 1 fr. costs $1 5.23 1. Find the cost of a 60-day draft for £90 10s. 2. Find the cost of a demand draft for 305 fr. 50 c. 3. Find the cost of a 90-day draft for 750 M.; 620 M. 4. How large a sterling 90-day draft will $71.55 buy? 5. How large a demand draft on Paris will $125 buy? 6. How large a 60-day draft on Leipzig will $76 buy? 7. A merchant buys Scotch tweeds in London to the amount of £127 10s. What will a 60-day draft cost? 8. A city library buys books in Paris to the amount of 578 fr. 31 c. How much will a draft for this amount cost when exchange is quoted at 5.21? 9. I have bought 400 M. worth of books in Leipzig. Which is better for me, to express money order @ 24 buy a demand draft or an to the mark? 10. I have bought a painting in Florence for 670 lire (lērā, francs), and 7 lire for packing. If exchange on Florence is 5.18, how much will a draft for this amount cost? METRIC SYSTEM 493. Where used. If a man buys foreign goods, except from England, the measures will probably be on a more convenient system than ours, one invented in France about 1800, and now used in a large part of the civilized world. It is easily learned, it is much more simple than our system, and we need it in all scientific work and in our newspaper reading. It is called the Metric System. 494. Meter. The unit of length is the meter. It is nearly 39.37 in. long, or nearly one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the pole. 495. Liter. The unit of capacity is the liter (lēter), a cube of a meter on an edge. It is nearly 1 qt. 496. Gram. The unit of weight is the gram. It is practically the weight of a cube of water of a meter on an edge. It equals nearly 15.4 grains. 497. The prefixes. The tables are easily learned when the prefixes are known. Just as 1 mill of a dollar, = THE PREFIX myria- deka deci 0.1 decimeter 0.1 of a meter. centi milli 0.01 of a gram. 0.001 of a meter. |