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Labour, it must always be remembered, and not any particular

commodity, or set of commodities, is the real measure of the

value both of silver and of all other commodities.

But in countries almost waste, or but thinly inhabited, cattle,

poultry, game of all kinds, etc. as they are the spontaneous

productions of Nature, so she frequently produces them in much

greater quantities than the consumption of the inhabitants

requires. In such a state of things, the supply commonly exceeds

the demand. In different states of society, in different states

of improvement, therefore, such commodities will represent, or be

equivalent, to very different quantities of labour.