that a baker will take care to divide 2s. worth of bread into twenty-five penny-loaves, when a penny comes to be the twenty-fifth of a florin, than that he will divide 1s. worth into ten only, if a penny become the tenth of a shilling.  And it would be less hardship for the poor housekeeper to find her penny-loaf 1-25th smaller, if she could discern the reduction, than to get only ten for her shilling, even if they were a fifth larger.  Besides, we should feel it to be a poverty-stricken thought, that our internal commerce should be reduced to barter in half-farthings’ worths, and that our merchants and bankers should have no denomination above the value of 10s. for the enormous sums which figure in their books.

The subject of names is worth a remark or two.  The commissioners recommended ‘florins,’ as affording facilities to foreigners for understanding our monetary system; and in this respect it has advantages.  ‘Cent’ and ‘millet’ are easily enunciated, and they convey to the educated classes, whether at home or abroad, the relative value of the coins.  We cannot say, however, but we would prefer a more familiar nomenclature than florins, cents, and millets.  Mr Norton’s suggestion, that the names should not only be capable of easy and rapid utterance, but that they should be of the same Teutonic origin as our shilling and penny, is worthy of serious consideration.  Dr Bowring, who advocated a strictly decimal scale, suggested the names, ‘queens’ and ‘victorias’ for the two middle denominations, leaving pounds and farthings as they were.  Now, if it be deemed proper to change the name of the unfortunate florin when it makes its reappearance, ‘queen’ would be a very pretty substitute; but ‘victoria’ would soon be mangled down to its first syllable.  If this style of nomenclature be preferred, ‘prince’ would be a more suitable name for the little cent-piece.  Mr De Morgan is for ‘pounds, royals, groats, and farthings.’

But ‘royal’ is not capable of rapid enunciation, and ‘groat’ is decidedly objectionable for designating ten farthings, as it is still sacred to fourpence in the English mind.  Whatever the names, the full enunciation of them at first would appear stiff and solemn; but abbreviated modes of expression would soon be established.  ‘Four-two’ would be understood as L.4, 2 (florins), while ‘four and two’ would convey four florins, two cents.  When three denominations were used, it would be ‘four-three-two,’ there being little danger of a misunderstanding as to whether the ‘four’ were pounds or florins.  So, in writing, it would only be necessary to write after any sum the name of the lowest denomination, as 48, 3, 7c., which would be known as L.48, 3 florins, 7 cents; or, to add ciphers for all lower denominations, as 48300, which, whether pointed or not, would convey L.48, 3, 0, 0.

In a future paper, we will resume the subject of decimals, viewing it with reference to weights and measures; when its advantages will more fully appear, by the facility it affords for the calculation of prices.