flow the ledger is filled up from the journal. 1. Turn to the index, and see .r,liether the Dr. of the journal-post to be trans ported be written there ; if not, insert it under its proper letter, with the num ber of the folio to which it is to be car ried. 2. Having distinguished the Dr. and the Cr. sides, as already directed, re cording the dates, complete the entry in one line, by giving a short hint of the na ture and terms of the transaction, carry ing the sum to the money columns, and inserting the quantity, if it be an account of goods, &c. in the inner columns, and the referring figure in the folio colunni. 3. Turn next to the Cr. of the journal post, and proceed in the stone manner with it, both in the index and ledger; with this difference only, that the entry is to be made on the Cr. side, and the word By prefixed to it. 4. The post he. Mg thus entered in the ledger, return to the journal, and on the margin mark the folios of the accounts, with the folio of the Dr. above, and the folio of the Cr. below, and a small line between them thus 4. These marginal numbers of the journal are a kind of index to the ledger, and are of use in examining the books, and on other occasions. 5. In opening the accounts in the ledger, follow the or der of the journal ; that is, beginning with the first journal-post, allow the first space in the ledger for the Dr, of it, the next for the Cr. the third for the Dr. of the following post, if it be not the same with some of those already opened, and so on till the whole journal be transport ed; and supposing that, through inad vertency, some former space has been ailowed too large, you are not to go back to subdivide it, in order to erect another account in it.
Though these rules are formed for sim ple posts, where there is but one Dr. and one Cr. yet they may be easily applied to complex ones, Cash-book This is the most important of the auxiliary books. It is so called, because It contains, in debtor and creditor, all the cash that comes in and goes out of a merchant's stock. The receipts on the debtor's side ; the persons of whom it was received, on what, and on whose account, and in what specie ; and the payments on the creditor's side: men tioning also the specie, the reasons of the payments, to whom, and for what account they are made.
Books of debts, or payments, is a book in which is written down the day on which all sunis become due, either to be receiv ed or paid, by bills of exchange, holes of hand, merchandises bought or sold, or otherwise. By comparing receipts and payments, one may, in time, provide the necessary funds for payments, by getting the bills, notes, &c. due to be paid, or by taking other precautions.
Book of numeros, or wares. This hook is kept, in order to know easily all the merchandises that are lodged in the ware house, those that are taken out of it, and those that remain therein.
Book of invoices. This book is kept to preserve the journal from erasures, which are unavoidable in drawing up the ac counts of invoices of the several mer chandizes received, sent out, or sold ; wherein one is obliged to enter very mi nute particulars. It is also designed to render those invoices easier to find than they can be in the waste book or journal.
Book of accounts currrent. This hook serves to draw tip the accounts which are to be sent to correspondents, in order to settle them in concert, before they are balanced in the ledger ; it is properly a duplicate of the accounts current, which is kept, to have recourse to occasionally.
The other mercantile books, as the hook of commissions, orders, or advices ; the hook of acceptances of hills of ex change ; the book of remittances ; the book of expenses ; the copy-book of let ters ; the book of postage ; the ship books ; and the book of work-men ; re quire no description. To these may be added others, which depend on the great er or lesser accuracy of the merchants and bankers, and on the several kinds of trade carried on by particular dealers.
Boox-binding, the art of gathering and sewing together the sheets of a book, and covering it with a back, &c. It is per formed thus : the leaves are first folded with a folding-stick, and laid over each other in the order of the signatures; then beaten on a stone with a hammer, to make them smooth, and open well, and afterwards pressed. While in the press they are sewed upon bands, which are pieces of cord or pack thread ; six hands to afolio hook; five to a quarto, oc tavo, &c. which is clone by drawing n thread through the middle of each sheet, and giving it a turn round each band, be ginning with the first, and proceeding to the last. After this the books are glued, and the bands opened and scraped, for the better fixing the pasteboards; the hack is turned with a hammer, and the hook fixed in a press between two boards, in order to make a groove for fixing the pasteboards: these being applied, holes are made for fixing them to the book, •which is pressed a third time. Then the hook is at last put to the cutting-press, betwixt two boards, the one lying even with the press for the knife to run upon ; the other above it, for the knife to run against : after which the paste-boards are squared.
The next operation is the sprinkling the leaves of the book, which is done by dipping a brush into vermilion and sap-green, holding the brush in one hand, and spreading the hair with the other : by which motion the edges of the leaves are sprinkled in a regular manner, with out any spots being bigger than the others.
Then remain the covers, which are either of calfskin, or of sheepskin; these being moistened in water, are cut out to the size of the book, then smeared over with paste made of wheat flower, and afterwards stretched over the paste board, on the outside, and doubled over the edges withinside ; after having first taken off the four angles, and indented and platted the cover at the head-band: which done, the book is covered, and bound firmly between two bands, and then set to dry. Afterwards it is washed over with a little paste and water, and then sprinkled fine with a brush, unless it should be marbled, when the spots are to be made larger, by mixing the ink with vitriol. After this the book is glaz ed twice, with the white of an egg beat en, and at last polished with a polishing iron passed hot over the glazed cover.