2. Monge and Meusnier; to compute the bases.
3. Borda and Coulomb; for the observation of the pendulum.
4. Lavoisier and Haiiy; for researches as to the weight of distilled water.
5. Tillet, Brisson and Vandermonde; for comparison of ancient measures.
On 1 Aug. 1793, the Convention passed a decree, on the proposition of Arbogast, to the effect that the use of the new system should be declared obligatory at the end of the year. In this decree the nomenclature of the system was determined. Unavoidable delays in the meas urement of the arc necessitated some successive modifications, and it was not until the 11th Ventose, An III (1 March 1795) that an ap proximately definite report was sent in, to be followed by the decree of 18th Germinal, An III (7 April 1795), which finally established the different parts of the metric system. Lavoisier and Haiiy were assisted by Le Fevre-Gireau, and Fabbroni in determining the exact of a definite volume of water.
The decree of 7 April ordered the continua tion of the operations for the exact determina tion of the units, and to this end provided for 12 commissions to be named by the Committee of Public Instruction. The members chosen were: Berthollet, Borda, Brisson, Coulomb, Delambre, Haiiy, Lagrange, Laplace, Michain, Monge, Prony and Vandermonde. On 16 July 1795, Borda and Brisson presented their report of the verification of the meter, but the meas urement of the meridian arc, begun by Delambre and Mechain, 25 June 1792, could only be terminated in 1799. It is interesting to learn that some years later, the work was continued in the Balearic Islands by Biot and Arago.
As a first step in the legislative enforcement of the system, a decree of 23 Sept. 1795 (1st Vendemiaire, An IV) had provided that its use should be obligatory in the commune of Paris, and in the 'Constitution de l'An IV (1795-96)' its principle was formally recognized. On 16 Oct. 1798 (25th Vendemiaire, An VII), there assembled in Paris a body composed of the delegates of 10 independent nations, desig nated to establish finally the fundamental units. The report, made in the following year by Van Swinden, of the Batavian Republic, gave the conclusions arrived at, and determined the length of the meter as 443296/1000 lines of the old °Toise de Peron?) the latter being approxi mately equivalent to 6.3944 English feet. This report was adopted by the Convention 22 June 1799 (4th Messldor, An VII), and the proto-. types in platinum of the meter and kilogram were presented by the Institute. They were immediately deposited in the Palais des Archives of Paris, copies being placed in the Conserva toire des Arts et Métiers, and in the Observa tory of Paris, while iron meters were consigned to several foreign countries, including the United States.
It is well worthy of note, in view of the eventual absolute success of the metric system, that at first its progress was slow. For quite a time the people continued to cling to the old• measures, and this led, under the First Empire to the promulgation of a ministerial edict, dated 28 March 1812, authorizing the employ ment of °transitory among which were the use of a lase (fathom) of 2 meters (the actual length of the old tout was IA meters), of an aunt (ell) of 1.20 meters, of a
boisseau (bushel) of 12.5 liters, etc_ It arm not until the monarchy of Louis Philippe tin absolutely final and decisive action was takt! in the matter. The Marquis de Laplace pre sented to the Chamber a report, upon aim was based the law of 4 July 1837, accordinz the terms of which °all weights and meamare except those established by the laws of liti Germinal, An III and of 19th Frimaire, As VIII (7 April 1795 and 10 Dec. 1799)' shield be prohibited after 1 Jan. 1840. Belgium, 116 land Greece were the first countries 7 adopt the metric system, and before the encl.:: the 19th century, it had become the stanchr with 40 nations, and had attained world-si& use in science.
Nearly a score of years before the passe of the French law just mentioned the move: for the adoption of the system in the united States had already found able advocates, cre of the most notable being John Quincy Adars who in a report made to the Senate, on 22 Feb 1821, proposed that an international conference should be held to study the merits of the mein system and to provide for co-operation wri France tending toward its universal adoptim In the same year two metric standards, main of platinum, were sent to the United States', Albert Gallatin (1761-1849), then Minister France. They were both authenticated tic i certificate from the great physicist Arago, su ing of the ldlogram. that it differed less thm 1 milligram from the original `kilogram! des Archives.' In form it is a cylinder rM flat bases, the edges slightly rounded. Hein and diameter are nearly equal, approximate: 39.5 millimeters each. The only distinguisli mark is a faint lathe or tool mark of a pom-: within a circle. The square mahogany box which it was placed bore the following wiz engraved on a silver plate attached to the core °Kilogramme compare pour son Poids a Ilo lon Protype des Archives de France, et vcr Par M. Arago. Fortin fedi° Despite the Li sertion that its variation from the starathr?. was but 1 milligram, it was found, when com pared in 1879 with the British platinum le gram, to be 4.25 milligrams light, and this far: ing was confirmed in 1884, when it was air to the International Bureau of Weights ar: Measures at Sévres, and compared with auxiliary kilograms known to have the sir. values as the kilogram of the Archives. TY final determination gave the error as---lk milligrams. The intrinsic worth of this planar kilogram to-day, with the metal quoted at r.f per ounce Troy, would be $3,375, while at time it was made the value would hardly haft exceeded $300.