In 1852-53 the exportation amounted to 31.933,050 pounds, of which quantity Great Britain received 26.881,201, Spain 2,291,578 pounds, Portugal 1,896,286 pounds, and France 889,048 pounds. Of the total exportation in 1853-54, Great Britain received 22,575,122 pounds, Spain 2,351,279 pounds, Portugal 2,673,766 pounds, and France 543,611 pounds.

There are insuperable drawbacks to the extension of cotton culture in Brazil, among which may be reckoned the ravages of insects, the peculiarities of the climate, and the expense and difficulties attendant upon its transmission from the interior to the coast. It has long since been ascertained in Brazil that the cotton plant will not flourish near to the sea, and the plantations have in consequence receded further inland, as well to avoid this difficulty as to seek new and fresh lands. Pernambuco is the principal cotton-growing province of Brazil. The exports were, according to Brazilian authorities:

EGYPT. The cotton culture in Egypt commenced in 1818. The comparative tabular statement subjoined, derived from official sources, showing the quantities exported at the port of Alexandria, and the countries to which exported, respectively, for a period of three years, from 1853 to 1855, both inclusive, would indicate an increase in the culture by no means rapid in successive years :—

If to the aggregate exported be added from five to six millions of pounds worked up in the country, a liberal estimate of the annual amount of the cotton crop of Egypt will have been made. The factories established by Mehemit Ali are, it is stated, going rapidly to ruin. The cotton goods manufactured are coarse "caftas," or soldiers' "nizam" uniform. Much cotton is used also in making up divans, the usual furniture in Egypt. The Egyptian bale is estimated at Alexandria at 300 lbs. The United States Consul General at that port, in a dispatch dated the 1st instant, from which are derived the above facts, says :-"The new crop is now coming in, and is supposed to be a little above the average.”

CAPACITY OF THE COTTON BALE. The commercial standard of quantity in the cotton trade is generally the bale. The weight of the bale, however, is by no means uniform. Indeed, scarcely any weight, measure, or standard of capacity may be considered less so. It varies, from different causes, in different countries, and in different sections of the same country, at different periods, and according to the different kinds or qualities of the article. Improvements in pressing and packing, to diminish expense in bagging and freight, tend constantly to augment the weight of the bale. Thus, in 1790, the United States bale was computed at only 200 lbs. In 1824 the average weight of bales imported into Liverpool was 266 lbs,; but, increasing constantly, twelve years later the average was 319 lbs. McCulloch, however, in 1832, considered 300 to 310 lbs. a fair average, and Burns 310. At the same time the Upland cotton bale was estimated at 320 lbs., and the Sea Island at 280 lbs. According to Pitkins, the Egyptian bale weighed at one time but 90 lbs., though it now weighs more than three times as many. the same period the Brazilian bale contained 180 lbs., though it now contains but 160 lbs.; while the West Indian bale weighed 350 lbs., and the Columbian bale 101 lbs., or the Spanish quintal. According to Burns, the United States bale at Liverpool averaged 345 lbs.; the Brazilian 180 lbs.; the Egyptian 220 lbs. ;

* One bale weighs 160 pounds.

At

the West Indian 300 lbs. ; and the East Indian 330 lbs. At the Lowell factories in 1831, according to Pitkins, the bale averaged 361 lbs. In 1836 the bale of the Atlantic cotton States was estimated at 300 and 325 lbs., and that of the Gulf States at 400 and 450 lbs. In Liverpool, at the same time, the estimate for the bale of Upland or short staple cotton was 321 lbs. ; for Orleans and Alabama 402 lbs.; for Sea Island 322 lbs.; for Brazil 173 lbs.; for Egyptian 218 lbs. ; for East Indian 360 lbs., and for West Indian 230 lbs. ; while, according to Burns, bales imported into France were computed at only 300 lbs. each. Waterstone's "Manual of Commerce," a reliable British publication, (1855,) gives the Virginia, Carolina, Georgia, and West Indian bale at 300 to 310 lbs.; that of New Orleans and Alabama at 400 to 500 lbs. ; that of the East Indies at 320 to 360 lbs.; that of Brazil at 160 to 200 lbs. ; that of Egypt at 180 to 280 lbs.

Alexander's "Universal Dictionary of Weights and Measures" gives the bale of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi at 500 lbs.; that of Georgia at 375 lbs. ; and that of South Carolina at 362 lbs. At Rio de Janeiro the Brazil bale is estimated at 160 lbs.

Prior to 1855 the United States, "Commerce and Navigation," gave exports of cotton in pounds only. They are now given in bales as well as in pounds, the aggregate amount the year ending June 30, 1855, being 2.303,403 bales, or 1,008,424, 601 lbs.—the bale accordingly averaging about 438 lbs. Some bales, however, are evidently much heavier and some much lighter than this. For example, the 210,113,809 lbs. of cotton exported to France, give 446 lbs. to each of the 470,293 bales; and the 955,114 lbs. exported to Austria, give 492 lbs. to each of the 1,939 bales; while the 7,527,079 lbs. exported to Mexico, give only 290 lbs. to each of the 25,917 bales in which they were contained.

The relative average weights and cubical contents of bales of cotton imported into Liverpool in 1852, are thus given :

These figures show not only the great variety of bales that enter Liverpool, but that the most eligible form of bale is that of the East Indies-double the weight being packed within the same compass in any other description of bale.

In the great cotton marts of Liverpool and Havre, as in those of New Orleans and Mobile, the article is almost invariably treated of by merchants, brokers, and commercial men by the bale. Thus a report on the trade of Liverpool gives the imports of cotton into Great Britain in 1852 at 2,357,338 bales. The aggregate of cotton imported that year is given in the official report by the Board of Trade at 929,782,448 lbs., the bales averaging accordingly 395 lbs. each.

The annual Commercial "Revue" of Havre gives the number of bales of cotton imported into France the same year (1852) at 462,300, in round numbers. The "Tableau General" gives the imports at 188,917,099 lbs., the bales averaging accordingly about 409 lbs. each.

The following table, compiled from the Havre Commercial "Revue," (1855,) referred to, shows the quantities of cotton in bales, imported into France, and the countries whence imported, for a period of five years, from 1851 to 1855, both inclusive:

Estimating the bale at 400 pounds, we have the following statement, some of the figures of which, contrasted with those derived from official sources in the statement already given, (III,) present striking discrepancies :

TABULAR COMPARATIVE STATEMENT, SHOWING THE QUANTITIES OF COTTON, IN ROUND NUM-
BERS, IMPORTED INTO FRANCE, AND THE COUNTRIES WHENCE IMPORTED, FOR A PERIOD
OF FIVE YEARS, FROM 1851 TO 1955, BOTH INCLUSIVE, THE BALE BEING ESTIMATED
AT 400 POUNDS.

The Richmond Whig, a journal that has of late devoted much space to commercial affairs-more, perhaps, than any other paper in Virginia-furnishes the subjoined statement of the exports and imports of Richmond, direct to and from foreign ports, during the years 1854 and 1855:

EXPORTS TO FOREIGN PORTS DURING THE YEARS 1854 AND 1855.

IMPORTS FROM FOREIGN PORTS DURING THE YEARS 1854 AND 1855.

...

$4,064,709

JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.

HOW TO DETECT COUNTERFEIT BILLS.*

Until we read Mr. Peyton's valuable and original work, we never knew how much there is in a bank-note, although duly sensible of its import in a pecuniary sense. How much mechanical ingenuity, how much artistic skill go to the production of a bank-note is set forth in his pages very strikingly and very minutely, as his system of detection rests upon a careful study of the note itself and the processes of its production.

It is a matter of surprise to us that a subject which so literally and universally "comes home to the business" of men should have hitherto received so little careful attention, and so little of the common-sense treatment Mr. Peyton has bestowed upon it. Among bank-note engravers, of course, it has long been a matter of careful consideration, and many have been the devices to prevent fraud. It is Mr. Peyton's opinion that the present system of bank-note engraving presents sufficient safe-guards against fraud if its processes are carefully studied and understood; and that thus any one may become qualified to detect counterfeit fac similes, spurious issues, and altered notes. In other words, people must take reɛsonable pains to become connoisseurs of bank-note engraving, in order to tell a good bill from a bad one, just as a connoisseur of painting distinguishes good from bad pictures. The comparison is the more in point because bank-note engraving has reached a high point of artificial as well as mechanical excellence. Under these two heads, Mr. Peyton considers in detail the round hand, shading, parallel ruling, lathe work, and bas-reliefs comparing the mechanical and the vignettes, containing figures and scenery, which belong to the artistical branch of bank-note engraving, and which, from the beauty of their execution give some of our banknote artists a high place among engravers on steel. The plates in Mr. Peyton's work are fine specimens of their skill, and his text is illustrated by constant reference to them.

We have space only to note very cursorily some points in Mr. Peyton's system; there is nothing about it far-fetched or artificial, and its very simplicity and obviousness must recommend it to business men who require a system readily learned and easily applied.

CONDITION OF BANKS OUT OF BOSTON.

The banks in Massachusetts, out of Boston, are required to make monthly returns. When the first was made, July 1, 1854, the number of banks in Massachusetts, out of Boston, was 115, with a capital of $22,659,760. These have since increased to 135, and a present capital of $26,510,000. The following detail of figures, (furnished to our hands by Mr. Martin,) will show their aggregate movement for a period of two years—that is, since the adoption of the present system to June, 1856 :

How to Detect Counterfeit Bank-Notes; or an Illustrated Treatise on the Detection of Counterfeit, Altered, and Spurious Bank-Notes. With original Bank-Note Plates and Designs by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch, and Edson. By GEORGE PEYTON, Exchange Broker. New York: published for the author. 1856.