The four other banks mentioned are a product of the commercial life of modern France, all having been established since the revolution of 1848. They are all heavily capitalized, the smallest, the Credit Industrielle et Commercial, having a capital of 100,000,000 francs ($20,000,000), and the largest, the Societe Generale, having a capital of 400,000,000 francs ($80,000,000), and all extend their business by means of branches. The Credit Lyonnais and the Comptoir d'Escompte have branches in France itself, the French colonies, and a number of foreign countries; the Societe Generale, throughout France, in London, and San Sebastian, Spain; and the Credit Industrielle et Commercial, in Paris and its suburbs. Taken together, these four institutions supply the French people in Paris and the Provinces with banking facilities for both their domestic and their foreign business. While in some of the larger provincial cities local banks with branches in surrounding towns and sometimes in Paris are to be found, branches of one or more of these four institutions are the chief reliance in nearly all places. These institutions cater to all the financial needs of their constituents. They supply their needs for cash and for exchange; conduct checking accounts for them, although these are not used in France to the same extent as in the United States; discount their commercial paper and make loans to them on personal and other security; and receive on deposit their savings and provide them with investments. In performing these functions they make extensive use of the Bank of France and of the stock exchanges of the country. With the former they conduct checking and transfer accounts and rediscount their customers' bills, by these means procuring the coin, bank notes, and exchange needed; and from the latter they obtain the investment securities required for the satisfaction of both their own and their customers' needs. Gold and silver coin and the notes of the Bank of France constitute the hand-to-hand money of the country. The latter form the elastic element, and their operation approximates perfection. When demand for money increases for any reason, more commercial bills are presented for discount to the banks, which, after indorsement, exchange them at the Bank of France for the notes with which they supply their customers' needs. The note issues of the Bank thus expand in direct and immediate response to the needs of the country for more currency. When such needs have passed, the discounted bills, in exchange for which these notes were issued, mature and are paid in greater volume than new bills are created and presented for discount, and notes, or a corresponding amount of coin, accumulate in the vaults of the Bank. The notes are cancelled and destroyed and the coin is kept in store until it again passes into circulation through exchange for notes still outstanding, or for discounted bills.