MEASURE. A means or standard for computing amount. A certain quantity of something, taken for a unit, which expresses a relation with other quantities of the same thing.
Before the Conquest, the measures for the things a man handles are the thumb, span, cubit, ell ; for the ground, the foot and pace ; for large spaces and distances, recourse was had to time—labour—units ; the day's jour ney, and the morning's plowing. Maitl. Domesd. Book and Beyond 368. A cloth ell, or cloth yard, becomes a standard; one third of it is a foot and one thirty-sixth of it a thumb or inch, and five and one-half yards is a land measure—a rod. Again, one rod will represent the arm of an average man ; a longer rod may serve to mediate between the foot and the acre, or a day's ploughing. But it is said that "the whole story will be very intricate." Maitland, Domesday Book 368.
The constitution of the United States gives power to congress to "fix the standard of weights and measures." Art. 1, s. 8. The states, it seems, possess the power to legis late on this subject, or, at least, the exist ing standards at the adoption of the constitu tion remain in full force; 3 Story, Const. 21; Rawle, Const. 102 ; but this constitutional power is exclusive in congress when exer cised; Weaver v. Fegely, 29 Pa. 27, 70 Am. Dec. 151.
By a resolution of congress, of June 14, 1836, the secretary of the treasury is directed to cause a complete set of all weights and measures adopted as standards, and now either made or in the prog ress of manufacture, for the use of the several custom-houses and for other purposes, to be de livered to the governor of each state in the Union, or to such person as he may appoint, for the use of the states respectively, to the end that a uniform standard of weights and measures may be estab lished throughout the United States. The act of March 3, 1881, requires the same to be furnished to such agricultural colleges in every state as have received grants of land from the United States. By act of March 3, 1893, a standard gauge for sheet and plate iron and steel was established.
The act of July 12, 1894, defined and established units of electrical measure: ohm, unit of resist ance ; ampere, unit of current ; volt, unit of elec tromotive force ; coulomb, unit of quantity ; farad, unit of capacity; joule, unit of work ; watt, unit of power; henry, unit of induction.
The act of March 3, 1901, established a national bureau of standards, with custody of the standards, and in charge of the comparison of standards, test ing and calibration, etc. The bureau exercises its functions for the government ; • for any state or municipal government ; or for any scientific socie ty, educational institution, corporation or individual engaged in manufacturing or other pursuits re quiring the use of standards or standard measuring instruments. For all service, except for the gov ernment or state governments, a reasonable fee is charged according to a schedule made by the sec retary of the treasury. A visiting committee of five members, appointed by the secretary of the treas ury, consisting of men prominent in the various interests involved and not in the employ of the government, is appointed to visit the bureau at least once a year and to report to the secretary upon the efficiency of its scientific work and the condition of its equipment. One member retires each year. The appointment is for five years. The members serve without compensation, except their actual expenses incurred.
The act of July 28, 1866, authorized the use of the French metric system of weights and measures in this country, and provided that no contract or deal ing, or pleading in any court, shall be deemed in valid or liable to objection, because the weights or measures expressed or referred to therein are weights or measures of the metric system ; R. S. § 3569. Annexed to § 3570 is a schedule which shall be recognized in the construction of contracts, and in all legal proceedings, as establishing in terms of the weights and measures now in use in the United States, the equivalent of the weights and meas ures expressed therein in terms of the metric sys tem. See infra ; WEIGHT; FROM.