METRIC SYSTEM, The. In the latter half of the 17th century, the French astronomer, Jean Picard (1671), and the Dutch physicist, Christian Huyghens (1673), proposed as a standard unit of length that of a seconds pendu lum at sea-level on the 45th degree of latitude. This is only about six millimeters shorter than the meter now in use. Some years earlier, Sir Christopher Wren had advocated that a half seconds' pendulum should be chosen as such a unit ; this would have approximated one-half the length commonly given to the ancient cubit. In 1670 the French mathematician, Abbe Gabriel Mouton, had suggested as a length unit one minute of the earth's circumference, what is now in use as a geographical mile, and he had divided and subdivided this decimally, giving a good Latin terminology for the various di visions and multiples. However, more than a tentury was to elapse before, under the inspir ing influence of the spirit of innovation born of the French Revolution and its precursor, the American War of Independence, a new, scientific and logical system of weights and measures was created, one which has already replaced the old and illogical systems in a great part of the world and is probably destined to become, before many years shall have passed, the universal system. In view of the opposi tion to any change in this direction still shown by many to-day in England and the United States, it is a strange coincidence that in the very year (1790) when the first steps leading to the establishment of the metric system were taken in France, a new system of weights and measures was offered by John Miller to the British House of Commons, and also by Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State, to the House of Representatives of the United States. Jeffer son's report formulated a decimal division of the various units. A still closer approximation to the metric system was present in that pro posed by the inventor, James Watt, who selected as the unit of mass a definite volume of water, and provided for a simple interrelation of the units of length, area, volume and mass ; he communicated this to Talleyrand.
As has been stated, it was in 1790 that the project for a new system of weights and meas ures was taken up by the French National As sembly. In March of that year, Talleyrand published a proposition to this effect, which he and Prieur des Vernois submitted to the As sembly. That body after referring the project to the Committee on Agriculture for preliminary consideration took it up on 8 May 1790 and on 22 August; a decree, sanctioned by Louis XVI, provided for the establishment of a new system, invited other nations to participate in the pro ject and entrusted to the Academie des Sciences the task of determining on the unit to be em ployed as a standard. Some representatives from Spain, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland took part in the discussion of the plan. The Academie des Sciences, in ac cord with the provisions of the decree, ap pointed a committee composed of the scientists Borda, Lagrange, Lavoisier, Tillet and Con dorcet, and on 27 Oct. 1790, this committee sub mitted its report to the Assembly. To secure additional data, a second committee was ap pointed, in which Laplace and Monge were sub stituted for Lavoisier and Tillet. This second committee, in its report of 19 March 1791, recommended the adoption of the one ten-mil lionth part of the quadrant of the terrestrial meridian as the standard unit of length. The Assembly accepted this suggestion, and on 26 March 1791 appointed five commissions, each charged with some department of the arduous task. It was decided to make, as an exact basis of 'calculation, a measurement of an arc of 10 degrees on the meridian of Paris. The com position and attributions of the commissions were as follows: 1. Cassini, Michain, Legendre; to measure the difference of latitude between Dunkirk and Barcelona, and to compute the triangles.