Unit

(id -nit ) [unus, one]. I. A single thing; a group considered as a whole, ’or as forming one of many similar groups composing a more complex body. U., Physiologic, a term used by Herbert Spencer to expre a unit between the chemic and the morphologic units in complexity, and of an aggregation of which units the body is composed, and which represents the character of the species. 2. A quantity with which others are compared. The most important units are: The Electric Units — U. of Capacity, the farad; U. of Current, the ampere; U of Electromotive Force, the volt; U. of Poiuer, the watt; U. of Quantity, the coulomb; U of Resistance, the ohm. U. of Force, the dyne; U. of Heat, the calorie; U. of Light, the light of a standard candle, i. e., a spermaceti-candle burning 1 20 grains per hour; U. of Length, U. of Volume, U. of Weight. See Weights and Measures. U. of Work, the erg. U., Serum-, U., Immunizing, according to Behring, one cubic centimeter of an antitoxic blood-serum, of which 0.1 c.c protects a guinea-pig of 500 grams against 10 times the fatal dose of diphtheria-toxin. 644