Me^fure of the Meridian in France^ ^'c 3 1 9 



which has'mef, for fome months paft, in this palace under your aufpice?, to fix decifivcly 

 the magnitude of the bafis of the new metrical fyftem. This co:nmiffion made the moft 

 minute enquiries into all the details of every obfervation, and each individual experiment. 

 They weighed all the circumftances jointly with the obfervers themfelves; deduced from the 

 obfervations thofe refults which were to ferve as grounds for calculation ; and they determined 

 the unities of meafure and weight, which are the definitive refults of the whole undertaking. 

 Never did an. operation of this kind undergo fo ftri£t an examination; and the commiffion, 

 as well from dwty, as to exprefs the fatisfaflion they have received, have thought fit to ac- 

 quaint the Inftitute, that the Citizens Mechain, Delambre, and Lefevre Ginneau,_were, in 

 every cafe dcfirous of fubmitting their original documents to their infpedion ; that they 

 readily gave every poffible explanation, as well with regard to the inftruments as the me- 

 thods they employed ; and in a word, that they anticipated the defires of the commiffioners 

 in every point with the attention of brothers and friends, and with that refpeftableopennefs 

 of charader which diftinguiflics the accurate obfcrver, who far from fearing a fevere exami- 

 tion, is, on the contrary, defirous that the minuted detail, and the moft fcrupuious enquiries, 

 fhould be entered into, in order that the truth may appear in all its luftre. 



In the performance of my charge of rendering this account of the work of thefe excellent 

 obfervers, and of the operations of the commiffion of weights and meafures, to fix the unitires 

 which ferve as the bafe of the new metrical fyftem, let me be allowed, for the fake of order 

 among the multiplicity of objefls 1 am to fubmit to your judgment, to (peak firft of that 

 which relates to the meafure of the arc of the meridian, and the determination of the metre, 

 or unity of linear meafures thence refulting ; after which, I fhall offer to your confideration, the 

 experiments which it was neceflary to make to fix the unity of weight; and laftly, while I 

 prefent to you the flandards of thefe two unities, may I offer fome reflexions on their nature, 

 their ufe, and the method of reftoring them with the greateft exaclnefs, fuppofing even that 

 every ftandard was deftroyed, and the name only to remain ; an invaluable advantage of thefe 

 new meafures, which gives them a right to the title of invariable. 



Let us begin with what concerns the meafure of the meridian. Citizens Mechain and 

 Delambre (hared this immenfe work. The northern part from Dunkirk to Rhodes was per- 

 formed by the firft, and Citizen Mechain performed all the reft from Rhodes to Barcelona. 

 He greatly regretted that circumftances did not permit him to carry his operations, as far as 

 the ifland Carbera. He had even made all the preparations for that tnterprize, had under- 



Borda, who died in Ventofe lafl ; Briflbn, Bugge, deputies from the king of Denmark; Cifcar, deputy 

 from the king of Spain; Coulomb, Darcet, Delambre, Fabbroni, deputies from Tufcany ; la Grange,, la 

 Place, Lefevre-Gineau, Legendre, Franchini, deputies from the Roman republic ; Mafchcroni, deputy from 

 the Cifapine republic; Mechain, Muliedo, deputies frnm the Ligurian republic; Pederayes, deputy fTom 

 the king of Spain ; Promi, Tralles, deputies from the Helvetic republic; Van Svvinden, deputy from the 



Batavian Republic; Vaffali, deputy from the provifional government of Piedmont Note of the Reporter. 



1 have tranflated the above note as it ftands in the original ; but I fuppofe that Briflbn, Coulomb, Darceti 

 Delambre, la Grange, la Place, Legendre, Mechain, and Proni, are not deputies from foreign powers. — N. 



T t 2 taken 



