This definition appears to us peculiarly liable to misapprehension; and
much vagueness and some narrow views have, we conceive, occasionally
resulted from its being interpreted with too mechanical an adherence to
the literal meaning of the words.

The capital, whether of an individual or of a nation, consists, we
apprehend, of all matters possessing exchangeable value, which the
individual or the nation has in his or in its possession for the purpose
of reproduction, and not for the purpose of the owner's unproductive
enjoyment. All unsold goods, therefore, constitute a part of the
national capital, and of the capital of the producer or dealer to whom
they belong. It is true that tools, materials, and the articles on which
the labourer is supported, are the only articles which are directly
subservient to production: and if I have a capital consisting of money,
or of goods in a warehouse, I can only employ them as means of
production in so far as they are capable of being exchanged for the
articles which conduce directly to that end. But the food, machinery,
&c, which will ultimately be purchased with the goods in my warehouse,
may at this moment not be in the country, may not be even in existence.
If, after having sold the goods, I hire labourers with the money, and
set them to work, I am surely employing capital, though the corn, which
in the form of bread those labourers may buy with the money, may be now
in warehouse at Dantzic, or perhaps not yet above ground.

Whatever, therefore, is destined to be employed reproductively, either
in its existing shape, or indirectly by a previous (or even subsequent)
exchange, is capital. Suppose that I have laid out all the money I
possess in wages and tools, and that the article I produce is just
completed: in the interval which elapses before I can sell the article,
realize the proceeds, and lay them out again in wages and tools, will it