In addition to these niceties, there are others connected with the manipulation, such as the parrallelism of the knife-edges, their bluntness, the extent of the area of oscilla tion, and the stability of the supports, so that altogether the exact measurement of the length of the seconds pendulum is a matter of very great complexity. All these diffi culties and troubles notwithstanding, we may hold that for all practical purposes, our system of weights and measures—and it may e added, the systems of all other civilized nations—is perfectly well established, whether it be regarded as derived from the dimensions of the earth, or from the intensity of gravitation.
No system of measures can ever claim to be of universal application from which geographical dimensions are execluded. It is essential that the unit of measure bear some simple relation to the earth's circumference, for otherwise the operations of the surveyor will not accord with those of the geographer. the only question, therefore, in regard to the establisment of a cosmopolitan system, is as to the number of parts into which the earth's circumference is to be divided. Now, the denary system of numera tion has already asserted its supremacy; one by one the schemes follwed by different nations have given way to it, and their very languages have been modified by its influence; sufficient traces remain to show how extensive these modifications must have been. The aree-score and ten is not yet forgotten in English, nor the quatre-vingt dix nail in French. In many trades the counting is still in dozens and grosses; yet our merchants count their interest, their discount, and their dividends in cents. The sur veyor divides the foot on his leveling staff into tenths, hundredths, and thousandths; lie makes his Gunter-chain of 100 links. The astronomer no longer divides the second into sixty thirds, but into hundredths; he gives his equinoctial time in decimal fractions of the day, and he makes the arguments for the planetary disturbances in thousandth parts of the whole revolution. There is no single instance in which the decimal system, once adopted, has been abandoned. See DECIMAL SYSTEM.
Nate.—Since the above article was written, a new act, the weights and measures act, 1878, has been passed, which, while making no material change so far as mercantile matters are concerned, places the system on another and most unsatisfactory foundation. The standard of length is still the distance between the same two gold pins, but the standard of weight is now declared to be a platinum pound avoirdupois to be weighed in vacuct The act contains tio instructions as to how this is to be compared with any weight in air, nor does it narrate any connection between the brass weight of 5,760 grains in air, with the platinum one of 7.000 grains in van& • Further, the whole of the
old act is repealed, so that there is now no connection between the standards of measure and of weight, nor between these and any natural or recognizable quantity. We are thus carried back to the rudest of all foundations, an arbitrary weight and an arbitrary measure. The fruits of laborious scientific research are put aside.
Weights and measures have, since 1824, been in great measure regulated by statute. The statute 5 Geo. IV, c. 74 was passed to enforce uniformity in the -weights and measures used in various parts of Great Britain and Ireland; anti a standard yard was defined as being then in custody of the clerk of the house of commons, and it was enacted that all superficial measures should be computed and ascertained by the said standard yard. The act also described how, if the said standard yard were to be lost or destroyed, another was to be made, So the statute defined a standard brass weight of one pound troy, and a standard gallon. That statute was altered by a subsequent statute of 5 and 6 Will. IV. c. 63, and inspectors were authorized to be appointed by justices of the peace, who had power to examine and stamp weights and measures It was enacted that any contract, bargain, or sale made by any weights or measures unauthorized by the act should be wholly void, and every such weight might be seized by the inspector, idid forfeited. One or two exceptions were made by the act such as ..
weights above 56 lbs.; wooden or wicker measures used in the sale of lime; g ass_ earthenware jugs or drinking-cups, though represented as containing the quantity of any Imperial measure, or any multiple thereof, and these are not illegal, though incorrect. The act 41 and 42 Viet. c. 49, to consolidate the body of existing law on the subject, insists on uniformity in the use of imperial weights and measures, defines the standards of weight, length, and capacity as specified in the note to the preceding article, gives the penalties for unjust measures, regulates the stamping and verification of weights and G measures, and prescribes how the law should be administered. See RAM, LITER,