These banks are almost sure to be those in best credit, or they would not be in that position, and, having the reserve, they are likely to look stronger and seem stronger than any others.

At first, incipient panic amounts to a kind of vague conversation: Is A.B.as good as he used to be?
Has not C.D.lost money?
and a thousand such questions.

A hundred people are talked about, and a thousand think,--'Am I talked about, or am I not ?' 'Is my credit as good as it used to be, or is it less ?' And every day, as a panic grows, this floating suspicion becomes both more intense and more diffused; it attacks more persons; and attacks them all more virulently than at first.

All men of experience, therefore, try to strengthen themselves,' as it is called, in the early stage of a panic; they borrow money while they can; they come to their banker and offer bills for discount, which commonly they would not have offered for days or weeks to come.

And if the merchant be a regular customer, a banker does not like to refuse, because if he does he will be said, or may be said, to be in want of money, and so may attract the panic to himself.