..METER (ante). It is probably that in reality the meter of the French archives is not exactly what it was supposed when determined; for the measurement was made upon the supposition that the earth is a reo.ular spheroid having an ellipticity of AD-, but it is more probable according to the inve.sbtigations of gen. Schubert of the Russian army and capt. Clarke of the British ordnance survey that it has three unequal axes, and that the Paris meridian is a very little longer than was computed by the French mathematicians. Their measurements were accurate and the computations upon them, but they measured enly 10° of the Paris meridian, and from this deduced the length of the quadrant. It has, however, been computed that if there be an error in the calculation ot the French meridian, the prototype meter of the archives is as near as possible the part of the quadrant of the ineridian which passes through New York.
In consequence of the discussion it was deemed advisable to have a meeting of an international commission to settle the question; 30 independent powers were represented in the commission which assembled at Paris in 1870. Their deliberations were inter rupted by the Franco-Prussian war, but were resumed, and resulted in an international convention which established at Paris an international bureau of weights and measures supported by contributions of the participating powers. This bureau was given the care of the prototype standards, and other matters connected with the establishment of the system, and its adoption by other powers. The commission came to the conclusion that the prototype meter, and also the kilogram of the archives, shall be recognized as stand ards irrespective of any doubts as to their variation from the theoretical value of the Paris meridian. See METRIC SYSTEM.