a new instance of a BigNumber object.</p>
    <p>
      If a base is specified, the value is rounded according to
      the current <a href='#decimal-places'><code>DECIMAL_PLACES</code></a> and
      <a href='#rounding-mode'><code>ROUNDING_MODE</code></a> settings.
      Usefully, this means the decimal places of a decimal value
      passed to the constructor can be limited by explicitly specifying base 10.
    </p>
    <p>
      See <a href='#Errors'>Errors</a> for the treatment of an invalid
      <code>