1887.] 335 [Taylor. 



which would both be assigned on perhaps one-half the occasions of its 

 familiar use, render it tolerably manifest that its length should be not less 

 than twelve inches, and while certainly excluding the yardstick and the 

 metre, would probabl}', designate the carpenters' two- foot rule as reaching 

 the maximum limit of practicable length. Both the French metre and 

 our yardstick are very awkward and inconvenient standards, being too 

 long for all ordinary purposes of mensuration, excepting itinerary mea- 

 sure, and as a popular standard utterly worthless except on the counter of 

 the draper. Moreover, we would naturally select such a rule as we would 

 measure our houses by, or the furniture within them ; such a rule as the 

 carpenter would cut off or lay off his boards by ; such a rule as the 

 mechanic could use in his workshop or the machinist handle in fitting his 

 engines. Theoretically it matters little whether our unit of reference be 

 the inch or the mile, but for tiie practical business of daily life it becomes 

 a matter of the very highest importance that our unit of measure should 

 be such a one as shall have the most convenient and universal appli- 

 cation. 



Two standards only have ever had a general use and currency — the 

 cubit and the foot. Both derived from the human person, it is natural 

 they should be found the most useful measures for the common wants 

 of the person. The cubit may be said to be almost a natural standard ; 

 and it is the most ancient of measures, while it is still prevalent through- 

 out the orient. Universal, or nearly so, throughout the nations of an- 

 tiquity — it was the common measure of the Israelites, and is referred to in 

 their earliest records. The ark is measured in cubits (Gen. vi, 15), and 

 the height of the flood is in cubits. Goliath's height was six cubits and a 

 span. The temple of Solomon is measured in cubits ; and walls of cities 

 are measured by the same (2 Kings x\v, 13). The foot appears to be a 

 much later standard of measure. Introduced by the Greeks and Romans, 

 it has prevailed in modern times wherever the Roman influence has been 

 felt. 



If the foot has been found a more manageable multiple of both the pace 

 and the fathom or its half — the ell — than the cubit, we are disposed to 

 regard the latter as the more beautiful and useful rule, and the more con- 

 venient unit of length. Certainly the occasions are not unfrequent, when 

 we need the addition of a few inches to our foot-rule to measure common 

 objects. At all events, in selecting a standard, adapted to the popular 

 wants, it may be regarded as tolerably manifest that its length should not 

 be less than a foot, and that it should not exceed two feet — the common 

 carpenters' rule. The cubit is the mean between these extreme limits. 



This consideration brings us to the derivation of the standard. " In all 

 the proceedings," says Mr. Adams, "whether of learned and philosophical 

 institutions, or of legislative bodies, relating to weights and measures 

 within the last century, an immutable and invariable standard from 

 nature, of linear measure, has been considered as the great desideratum 

 for the basis of any system of metrology. It is one of the greatest merits 



