THE METRIC SYSTEM. 327 



a person accustomed to buy sugar at six cents a pound, it would be a 

 little perplexing at first to buy it at 13 cents the kilo, or &y 2 cents the 

 half-kilo. It is the experience of the average American, however, that 

 in a foreign city, where the metric units and coinage have both to be 

 acquired, familiarity is obtained after about two weeks. Consequently, 

 less time should be needed to gain familiarity with the metric system, 

 when the coinage is unchanged. 



If it be questioned as to whether it is worth while for the whole 

 nation to be involved in this trouble and expense of transition, it 

 should be remembered that practically all countries, except the Eng- 

 lish-speaking countries, have already considered it worth while to 

 make the change, and that none of these countries has expressed regret 

 for the step. Moreover, the labor involved in the change, if the transi- 

 tion is not too sudden, will be small compared with the labor saved 

 to the young in acquiring the present complex system, as well as to 

 adults in wastefully consuming time for constantly applying it. 



The United States cover so large a territory, and have within this 

 territory so large a market, that the pressure upon their citizens for 

 meeting the requirements of trade with countries outside of Great 

 Britain, or her colonies, has not been felt as it has been felt in countries 

 like Germany. Nevertheless it is the often-repeated statement of the 

 U. S. consuls living abroad that the non-metric price-list, weights and 

 measures of American manufacturers are a handicap on American 

 trade with metric countries. 



Already the metric system is used in the United States for nearly 

 all scientific work and literature. It has even permeated popular 

 literature to some slight extent. It has already invaded pharmacy 

 and microscopy. The international electric units are metric units. 

 It has come into our currency. A nickel weighs, by law, five grams, 

 and a dollar twenty-five. The U. S. foot is defined by law as a cer- 

 tain fraction of the international meter. 



The colonies of Great Britain, less conservative than their mother 

 country, have recently urged Great Britain to adopt the metric sys- 

 tem. In August, 1902, the prime ministers of the colonies officially 

 urged upon the Secretary of State the importance of adopting the 

 metric system throughout the British Empire. At the Congress of 

 the Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire, held in Montreal 

 in August 1903, with delegates from all parts of the empire, a strong 

 resolution was adopted concurring with this action of the colonial 

 prime ministers, and urging the British government to adopt the 

 metric system. 



The parliament of Australia passed a strong resolution in favor 

 of adopting the metric system throughout the British Empire, in June. 

 1903. A similar, but less decided, motion was carried in the Cape of 



