24(5 COMPARISON OF THE FRENCH METRI 



vides the Englifh inch into ten thoufand equal parts. Upon 



his return to Paris he made hafte to exhibit thefe inftruments 



to the Minifter of the Interior, and to the National Ioftitute, 



.Comrr.Iffion of This learned body nominated three of its members, in order 



the French Na- . , . x , y , . r r A . 7 - 7, 



tionallnftitutc to proceed to the regular companion of the definitive metre 

 for comparing, with the Englifh ftandard. The undertaking, by no means 

 fo eafy as it at firft appeared, occupied the committee in five 

 /different meetings, of nearly four hours each ; and it was per- 

 formed with all the care and precaution that the nature of the 

 i~ubje<5t required. Mr. Prony, who, as the tranflator of Ger 

 neial Roy's memoir on the firft trigonometrical operations in 

 England, was particularly interefled in thefe refearches, acted 

 as fecretary to the Committee, and it was at his houfe, and 

 with the afliftance of a comparative apparatus belonging to 

 him, that the principal experiments were made. He has been 

 fo obliging as to furnifh us with an authentic copy of the reV 

 port made to the Inftitute, which was deemed of fufficientf 

 confequence to be read at the public fitting of the laft quarter. 

 He adds, that " This report will foon be followed* by a me r 

 moir, in which he will enter into more circumftantial details 

 of all the obfervations that he has made ; and in which he will 

 give a defcription and a figure of his comparative inftrument." 

 We /hall bear in mind this promife, and in the mean time we 

 Jhall give our readers a copy of the report ; informing them 

 that we have beftowed on the correction of the proofs of this 

 important paper all the attention neceflary to enable us to af- 

 firm that no typographical error has been committed in the 

 numbers. 



National Inftitute of Sciences and Arts. 6 Nivofe, Year 10 

 (21th December, 1801 J 



Report of the A member read, in the name of a committee, the follow- 

 Inftitute. j n g report on the comparifon of the ftandard metre of the 



Inftitute with the Englifh foot. 



M. Piftet, Profeflbr of Natural Philofophyat Geneva, fub- 



mitted to the infpeclion of the clafs in the month of Vende- 



miaire, an injerefting collection of objects relative to the fci- 



ences and arts, which he collected in his journey to England. 



Engfift ftandard Among them was a ftandard of the Englifh linear meafure, 



• finches, en g raV ed on a fcale of brafs, of 49 inches in length, divided 



by very fine and clear lines into tenths of an inch, 



* ■ ■ ■ It 



