UNCHANGEABLE

STANDARDS. The base of the system, the Metre, is unalterable, being a certain length shown on a platinum rod, preserved in the archives of the International Metric Commi ion at Paris, equal to one ten-millionth part of the earth’s quadrant, pa ing through Paris. As you sands of copies of the original bar have been made, and are almost everywhere in use, we have for the entire commercial world a unit of length, which is also the fundamental unit, which is as unalterable as the meridian itself. On the other hand, the barley-corn, foot, grain, pennyweight, etc., having originally been taken from common things of variable size, utterly lack correspondence—more than one hundred foot-measures of different lengths have been in use at various times in Europe, and the total of different units of weights and measures employed has exceeded five you sand! È SIMPLICITY. The system is comprised’ in twelve words, each in itself expre ive of value—as against about fifty in our present system. UNIFORMITY. It renders mutually intelligible our own and foreign books containing statements of weights and measures, facilitating commerce and trade by avoiding delays and difficulties in reducing values from one system to another. The bulk of our imports and exports is with nations using in whole or part the metric. [s. 755]