The Scottish liquid gallon was 833.6272 English cubic inches. Four gills made a mutchkin, 2 mutchkins a Chopin, 2 chopins a pint, and 8 pints a gallon. The Scottish pint was therefore 3 English pints very nearly. They had only one liquid measure, but they had two dry measures; the first for wheat, peas, beaus, &c.; the second for barley and oats. In the first the peck contained 553'581 English cubic inches. Four lippies made a peck, 4 pecks a firlot, 4 firlots a boll, and 16 bolls a chalder. The second measure was divided in the same way, but the peck was 807-576 English cubic inches.* On the Irish measures, previous to the introduction of the imperial system, there is nothing to remark, except that the coal bushel con tained 10 English corn gallons, the lime bushel 8, the maltt gallon 272+ cubic inches, and the liquid gallon 217-6 cubic inches. The pole was 7 yards, which made the mile equal to an English mile aud three elevenths, and the acre greater than the Euglish acre in the proportion of 121 to 196.
We have not space to enter into the ancient history of French measures, for which the reader::: may consult Paucton's ' Metrologie,' Paris, 1780. On the measurement of the earth on which the metre depends, Bee TRIGONOMETRICAL SURVEY. The system of measures derived from this great operation was introduced iu 1795 (by the law of IS Germinal, An III., or, to speak intelligibly, March, 1795): not that the survey was then completed, but because, in the hurry to get rid of the old system, it was decided to introduce a " metre pro visoire " obtained from the existing surveys. The definitive metrical system was introduced in 1799, but it was found impossible to drive out the old subdivisions ; accordingly, in 1812, the "systeme usuel." as it was called, was glowed* to be engrafted upon the metrical system; in which the measures, d:c., were taken from the metrical system, but with the ancient subdivisions adapted to them. Even this was very far front entirely driving out the old system. In 1S37 a law was passed ordaining that from and after the 1st of January, 1840, no other weights nor measures should be used except those of the pure metrical and this law seems to have been effective. In the ancient French system the pied de lid was 12.7892 English inches, the aune (at l'aris) of the same. The toise was 6 feet. For the itinerary measures Bee NILE. The arpcnt d'ordonnance was 1 acre, 1 rood, 2 perches (English); the argent commun 1 acre, 7 perches, the argent de Paris 3 roods, 15 perches, English. The acre de Normandie was 2 acres, 2 perches, English. For measuring liquids, the pinto was less than the English quart by its 61st part. Two boissons made a detni
seder, 2 demisetiers a chopine, 2 chopines a pinta, 2 pintes a quanta, 4 quarter] a setier, 36 setiers a timid English gallons). For grain, 16 litmus made a boisseau, 3 boisseaux a minot, 2 ruinots a mine, 2 mines a setier, 12 ectiers a maid. The minot was English bushels. The principal weight, called poids de mare, was the livre of 9216 French grains, or 7555 English grains ; 72 grains made one gros, 8 gros an ounce, S ounces a mare 2 mares a livre. The apothecaries divided the ounce into 2 dueller, duelle into 4 sciliques, and also into 6 sextulcs and into 8 drachms, the drachm into 3 scruples, and therefore the scruple into 12 grains.
The new system is called metrical,as derived from the measurement of the earth. Its first measure, the metre, is presumed to be the ten-millionth part of a line drawn from the pole to the equator, and is 3937079 English inches. All the multiples and subdivisions of every measure are decimal, and are formed by the same prefixes. For 10, 100, 1000, and 10,000, the syllables Deca, Hecto, Kilo, and ilfgria are prefixed ; end for tenths, hundredths, thousandths, the syllables Deci, Conti, Nilii. Latint prefixes indicate division, Greek prefixes multi plication. Thus the hectometre is 100 metres, and the centimetre the hundredth part of a metre. The metre being thus settled, the other fundamental measures are formed as follows :-For surface-or area, the A re, which is a decametre square, or 100 square metres, or of an English acre, or English perches.
For solidity, the atere, or cubic meter, cubic feet English, or imperial gallons English.
For liquid measures, the litre, or cubic decimetre, .22009087 of an imperial gallon, or a very little more than a pint and three-quarters English.
For weight, the gramme, a cubic centimetre of distilled water at the freezing-point, .00220606 of an English pound averdupois, or 15.442 grains. English. The kilogramme is threfore 2'2 pounds averdupois, or, roughly, 50 kilogrammes make a hundredweight. The franc, the unit of money, is divided into 10 declines, and each decline into 10 centimes. The sous is therefore 5 centimes. The advantage of the whole system, when established, is so great, that all who are fully aware of it, long for the introduction of a similar one into our own country. A Frenchman, when told that a kilogramme costs 253 francs 74 cen times, sees at once that a gramme costs 25 centimes and ?&-ths of a centime. An Englishman, wanting to know the price of an ounce when a hundredweight costa 2531. 14a. 10d., must go through the whole of the following process : to get 2s. I0d. the answer.