be considered only in the organization of a system for universal application.

It has been observed, that, among the difficulties hitherto insuperable, which have opposed the establishment in fact of this system, thus apparently established by law, the most unmanageable of all has been found to be the adoption of the nomenclature. It is curious to observe the various expedients of legislation, to accommodate itself to the popular humors in this respect.

The law of the 1st of August, 1793, established all the principles of the new system, but under denominations different from those which had ever been used before, and not less different from those which have been adopted since. It directed the Academy of Sciences to compose an elementary book, containing a clear explanation of the new weights and measures, with tables of equalization, and instructions for adapting them to those which had been in use until then. A few days afterwards the academy was itself abolished: but the duty of composing the book was assigned to a temporary commission, or board of weights and measures, consisting of the same persons who had been employed as members of the academy on the work. The book was composed and published in the year 1794. But, on the 19th of January of that year, (30 Nivose 2,) the nomenclature had already been changed; and, on the 7th of April, 1795, (18 Germinal 3,) a nomenclature entirely new, with the exception of three or four words, was enacted. The names ordained by this law of 7th April, 1795, are still the proper technical appellations, and have already been mentioned, with their Greek and Latin prefixes of decimal multiples and subdivisions. The same law directed that weights or measures might be made of double, or of half the units and their tenth part, or tenth fold amounts; but that no other subdivision, or multiple, such as thirds, or quarters, or sixth, or eighth parts, should be allowed. The law of 19 Frimaire 8, (10th December, 1799,) declared the platina metre of 443,296 lines, and the kilogramme of 18,827.15 grains mark weight, to be the definitive standard weight and measure; on the 13th Brumaire 9, (4th November, 1800,) the executive directory issued an arrêté, or order, authorizing, either in public writings or in habitual usage, what they called a translation into French words of the authentic nomenclature; so that the myriametre might be called a league, the kilometre a mile, the litre a pint, the kilogramme a pound, the hectogramme an ounce, the gramme a denier, and so of all the rest, excepting the metre, which was to have no synonymous or translated name, and the stere, for firewood and measures of solidity. This ordinance was never executed and the minister of the interior, by an order of 30 Frimaire 14, (21st December, 1805,) directed all the subordinate administrations to use exclusively the denominations prescribed by the law of 7th April,

1795.

An imperial decree of 12th February, 1812, presents the subject under a new aspect, by ordaining,

1. That the units of weights and measures should remain unchanged, as established by the law of 10th December, 1799.

2. That the minister of the interior should cause to be made instruments for weight and mensuration, presenting the fractions or multiples of the said units the most commonly used in commerce, and accommodated to the wants of the people. 3. That these instruments should bear on their respective faces the comparison of the divisions and denominations established by law, with those which had been formerly used.

4. That after a term of ten years a report should be made to the emperor of the result of experience upon the improvements of which the system of weights and measures might be susceptible.

5. That in the mean time the legal system should continue to be taught in all the schools, and be exclusively used in all the public offices, and in all markets, halls, and commercial transactions.

For the execution and explanation of this decree, an ordinance was, on the 28th of March, 1812, issued by the minister of the interior, of the following purport:

Art. 1. Permission was granted to employ for the purpose of com

merce,

1. Á long measure equal to two metres, to be called a toise, and

to be divided into six feet.

2. A measure equal to one third of the metre, to be called a foot, to be divided into twelve thumbs, and the thumb into twelve lines.

Each of these measures shall bear on one side the corresponding divisions of the metre, that is to say: the toise, two metres, divided into decimetres, and the first decimetre into millimetres; and the foot, three decimetres and one third, divided into centimetres and millimetres, in all 3334 millimetres.

Art. 2. All cloths may be measured by a stick equal in length to twelve decimetres, to be called an ell, (aune,) which shall be divided into halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths, as well as into thirds, sixths, and twelfths. It shall bear on one of its sides the corresponding divisions of the metre, in centimetres only; that is to say, one hundred and twenty centimetres, numbered from ten to ten.

Art. 4. Corn and other dry measure articles may be measured, in sales at retail, by a vessel equal to one-eighth of the hectolitre, which shall be called a boisseau, and shall have its double, its half, and its quarter.

Art. 5. For retail sales of corn, seeds, meal, and roots, green or dry, the litre may be divided into halves, quarters, and eighths.

Art. 7. For retail sales of wine, brandy, and other liquors, measures of one-quarter, one-eighth, and one-sixteenth of the litre may be used; each of which measures shall be called by a name signifying its proportion to the litre.

Art. 8. For retail sales of all articles which are sold by weight, the shopmen may employ the following usual weights:

The pound, (livre,) equal to half a kilogramme, or 500 grammes, which shall be divided into sixteen ounces.

The ounce, (once,) or sixteenth part of the pound, which shall be divided into eight gros.

The gros, or eighth part of the ounce, which shall be divided into halves, quarters, and eighths.

They shall bear, with their appropriate names, the indication of their weight in grammes, namely:

The pound

Half pound

Quarteron

Eighth, or quarter

500 grammes

250

125

62.5

31.3

15.6

7.8

3.9

And such is at this day the system of weights and measures, or, rather, such are the systems existing in France in their present condition; for, it cannot escape observation, that this decree and explanatory ordinance engraft upon the legal system an entirely new system, founded upon different, and, in many important respects, opposite principles. So that the result hitherto of the most stupendous and systematic effort ever made by a nation to introduce uniformity in their weights and measures, has been a conflict between four distinct systems:

1. That which existed before the Revolution.

2. The temporary system established by the law of 1st August,

1793.

3. The definitive system established by the law of 10th December, 1799. And,

4. The usual system, permitted by the decree of 12th February,

1812.

In

This last decree is a compromise between philosophical theory and inveterate popular habits. Retaining the principle of decimal multiplication and division for the legal system, it abandons them entirely in the weights and measures which it allows the people to use. stead of the metre and its decimals, it gives the people a toise of six feet, an aune of three feet and one-fifth, a foot of twelve thumbs, and a thumb of twelve lines. And these measures, instead of divisions exclusively decimal, are divisible in halves, thirds, quarters, sixths, eighths, twelfths, and sixteenths. Instead of a decimated kilogramme, it gives them a pound of sixteen ounces, an ounce of eight gros, and a gros of seventy-two grains. The measures of capacity, wet and dry, have the same indulgence: and while the standard weight and measure are deposited in the national archives, the people have restored to them for use all the names and divisions of their ancient weights and measures, though not the same things. For the toise, which is twice the length of the metre, is not the old toise ; the foot, which is the third part of the metre, is not the pied de roi: but both

are longer measures. The half kilogramme, which is a pound, is not the ancient mark weight pound; nor are the boisseau or litre those of ancient times: they are all respectively near approximations to them.

If the existing system and practice terminated here, it would be far from having attained the ideal perfection of uniformity; but it is believed that, for a multitude of purposes, with this double and complicated system, there is yet a very extensive remnant in use of that which prevailed before the revolution. It appears, from questions at this time in discussion between the governments of the United States and of France, that the tonnage of the French shipping is calculated by admeasurements in cubic royal feet: and it appears hence probable that, in all the business of ship building, and in practical navigation, those measures are still used. Without positive knowledge of the fact, the analogy of all experience warrants the conjecture, that in every part of France, remote from the capital, not only the use of the old legal system, but of the local weights and measures which prevailed in the various cities and districts of the country, is far from being eradicated.

The changes which have forced themselves upon the new system, under the attempt to reduce it to practice, should serve as admonitions to correct the errors of theory; but not operate as discouragement to the pursuit of the principal object, uniformity. The French metrology, in the ardent and exclusive search for an universal standard from nature, seems to have viewed the subject too much with reference to the nature of things, and not enough to the nature of man. Its authors do not appear to have considered, in all the bearings of the system, the proportions dictated by nature between the physical organization of man, and the unit of his weights and measures. The standard taken from the admeasurement of the earth had no reference to the admeasurement and powers of the human body. The metre is a rod of forty inches: and by applying to it exclusively the principle of decimal divisions, no measure corresponding to the ancient foot was provided. An unit of that denomination, though of slightly varied differences of length, was in universal use among all civilized nations: and the want of it is founded in the dimensions of the human body. Perhaps for half the occasions which arise in the life of every individual for the use of a linear measure, the instrument, to suit his purposes, must be portable, and fit to be carried in his pocket. Neither the metre, the half metre, nor the decimetre, are suited to that purpose. The half metre corresponds indeed with the ancient cubit: but perhaps one of the causes which have every where, since the time of the Greeks, substituted the foot in the place of the cubit, has been the superior convenience of the shorter measure. Besides which, the cubit being the unit, the half cubit might serve the purposes of the foot; but the metre, divisible only by two and by ten, gave no measure practically corresponding with the foot whatever. It appears also not to have been considered, that decimal arithmetic, although affording great facilities for the computation

of numbers, is not equally well suited for the divisions of material substances. A glance of the eye is sufficient to divide material substances into successive halves, fourths, eighths, and sixteenths. A slight attention will give thirds, sixths, and twelfths. But divisions of fifth and tenth parts are among the most difficult that can be performed without the aid of calculation. Among all its conveniences, the decimal division has the great disadvantage of being itself divisible only by the numbers two and five. The duodecimal division, divisible by two, three, four, and six, would offer so many advantages over it, that while the French theory was in contemplation, the question was discussed, whether the reformation of weights and measures should not be extended to the system of arithmetic itself, and whether the number twelve should not be substituted for ten, as the term of the periodical return to the unit. Since the establishment of the French system, this idea has been reproduced by philosophical critics, as an objection against it: and Delambre, in the third volume of the Base du Systeme Metrique, p. 302, has considered it, and assigned the reasons for which it had been rejected. He admits, to the full extent, the advantages of a duodecimal over a decimal arithmetic; but alleges the difficulty of effecting the reformation, as the decisive reason against attempting it.

The review of the proceedings in Great Britain and France, relating to the uniformity of weights and measures, presents the general subject under two very different aspects, from the combination of which, it is believed, useful practical results may be derived. Considered as a whole, the established weights and measures of England are but the ruins of a system, the decays of which have been often repaired with materials adapted neither to the proportions, nor to the principles of the original construction. The metrology of France is a new and complicated machine, formed upon principles of mathematical precision, the adaptation of which to the uses for which it was devised is yet problematical, and abiding with questionable success the test of experiment.

The standard of nature of the English system is the length of the human foot, divided by the barley corn. That of the French system is an aliquot part of the circumference of the earth decimally divided.

The material positive standard of the English system is an iron three foot rod in the British exchequer. That of France is a platina metre in the national archives.

To the English system belong two different units of weight, and two corresponding measures of capacity, the natural standard of which is the difference between the specific gravities of wheat and wine. To the French system there is only one unit of weight and one measure of capacity, the natural standard of which is the specific gravity of water.

The French system has the advantage of unity in the weight and the measure, but has no common test of both. Its measure gives the weight only of water. The English system has the inconvenience of two weights and two measures; but each measure is at the same time