All exchanges must, however, in the first instance, have been made directly, or, as we term it, by barter; so much of one commodity or service being given for so much of some other commodity or service--corn for cloth, furs and skins for knives or tobacco, so much labor in building a house for so much skill in constructing a canoe. But in all this method of exchanging, which, while it is the most ancient, is also one which still extensively prevails in even the most civilized societies, there was no place for the use or intervention of money; and consequently, also, there was no such thing as price; for price, as before stated, is the purchasing power of any commodity or service expressed in money. But the people on Robinson Crusoe Island soon found out by experience that there was an obstacle in the way of carrying on all exchanges according to the principle of direct barter, so serious in its nature as to constitute, unless removed, a complete bar to any further considerable progress in civilization and social development. And the discovery happened somewhat in this wise: Twist, who was a tailor, and had made a coat, discovered all at once that he was out of bread; and being hungry, suspended work, and went in search of Needum, the baker, to effect an exchange. He found him without difficulty, just heating his oven, and with plenty of bread to dispose of; but as the baker had all the coats he wanted, he declined to trade. Needum, however, kindly informed Twist that if any fellow should call with any surplus grain or flour, he (Needum) would be most happy to supply him with all the bread he needed in exchange; but as the tailor was neither a farmer nor a miller, and had neither of these articles, he (Twist) set off for the other end of the island, where there was another baker, to see how the latter was situated in respect to garments. On his way, Twist was overtaken by Pecks, the mason, who had no coat, and, wanting the very garment which Twist had been making, had stopped work on a stone wall and gone in search of the tailor, to whom he proposed to exchange the coat for a new chimney. But as Twist had already two chimneys to his house, and nothing to cook, and didn't want another chimney, the mason was as unsuccessful in his effort to trade with the tailor as the tailor had been just before with the baker. At last, after much vexatious traveling about, involving great waste of time and labor, Twist found a baker who wanted to exchange bread for the coat, and Pecks a tailor who would give a coat for a chimney; Needum having, in the mean time, shut up his bakery and gone in search of Diggs, the farmer, who was willing to supply grain for bread. But when all these different persons, each desirous of exchanging his special products or services, had been found, and had come together, a new perplexity at once made its appearance, and one so embarrassing as to cause each man seriously to consider whether it were not better to return home