320 Laws relative to the 



superficial, or solid, shall be derived and ascertained, shall be the 

 yard, as used in this state on the fourth day of July one thousand 

 seven hundred and twenty-six. 



** 3 For the precise definition of the said yard, and in order to 

 its recovery in case of loss, it is declared, (until the measure of the 

 pendulum shall be transferred to some appropriate pubhc build- 

 ing,) that such yard has been found, by experiments made with 

 a pendulum, with a brass rod, at Columbia College, in the City of 

 New York, in the latitude of forty degrees, forty-two minutes, and 

 forty-three seconds, north, to bear to the pendulum of that place, 

 vibrating seconds in a vacuum, and at the level of the sea, at the 

 temperature of melting ice, the proportion of one million, to one 

 million eighty-six thousand one hundred and forty-one *. 



** 4. The standard yard thus defined, shall be measured in a 

 straight line between two points engraven upon golden disks, in- 

 serted into a straight brass rod ; and in case the same shall be lost, 

 or otherwise destroyed, defaced or injured, it shall be restored ac- 

 cording to the proportions mentioned in the preceding section, 

 under the direction of the Secretary of State, as State Sealer of 

 weights and measures. 



*' 5. The yard shall be divided into three equal parts, called feet, 

 and each foot into twelve equal parts, called inches ; and for mea- 

 sures of cloths, and other commodities commonly sold by the yard, 

 it may be divided into halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths. 



** 6. The rod, pole, or perch, shall contain five such yards and a 

 half; the furlong, two hundred and twenty such yards ; and the 

 mile, one thousand seven hundred and sixty such yards. 



" 7. The acre, for land measure, shall be measured horizon- 

 tally, and shall be equal to a rectangle, sixteen such perches 

 in length, and ten in breadth, and shall contain one hundred and 

 sixty square perches, or four thousand eight hundred and forty 

 square yards ; six hundred and forty such acres being contained in 

 a square mile. 



" 8. The unit or standard of weight, from which all other weights 

 shall be derived and ascertained, shall be the pound of such mag- 

 nitude, that the weight of a cubic foot of distilled water, at its 

 maximum density, weighed in a vacuum with brass weights, shall 

 be equal to sixty-two and a half such pounds. 



" 9. Such standard pound weight shall be made of brass, and 

 in case of loss, shall be restored by making a new standard, deter- 

 mined according to the proportions mentioned in the last section, 

 under the direction of the State Sealer of weights and measures. 



" 10. The pound shall be divided into sixteen equal parts, called 

 [* Journal of the Royal Institution : New Series, No. 2, pages 382—385. Ed] 



