123 



Thus the portion of these exports sent to countries using the metrical 

 ton may be stated at £28,000,000 nearly. A considerable proportion 

 of the countries to which the remaining £08,000,000 of goods were 

 exported do not use either the English or the metrical ton, but some 

 other weight. So large a proportion of our foreign commerce being 

 already carried on with nations using the metrical ton, it appears 

 highly probable that its adoption by Great Britain would speedily lead 

 to its universal adoption throughout the world. Nor can it be ques- 

 tioned that this would be a most proper adjunct to the recent alterations 

 of the Navigation Law, by which the ships of all countries are per- 

 mitted to carry goods to and from Great Britain with unrestricted 

 freedom, and even the ships themselves may be bought and sold 

 like any other description of merchandize. A common method of 

 computing their capacity, and their value would be a manifest and 

 indisputable advantage. 



Let us now consider what are the recommendations of the metrical 

 ton, independently of its extensive adoption throughout the world. It 

 appears to surpass the English ton in regard to exactiaess, simplicity, 

 and facility of application. According to the English method, the 

 linear measures are computed in feet, inches, and eighths of an inch ; 

 or, if recourse is had to decimals, in feet and hundredths of a foot. For 

 measuring length in vessels of all kinds, the use of a measuring 

 line divided into metres and centimetres appears simple, easy, and 

 commodious in the extreme. 



But the chief advantage of the metrical ton will be apparent on 

 considering the linear measure as the basis employed for the cubage of 

 vessels, and the deduction of the tonnage therefrom. According to the 

 old English method, the length, breadth, and height, are in every case 

 multiplied into one another, being expressed either in feet and inches, 

 or in feet and lOOths of a foot, and the product being the estimated 

 capacity of the vessel in cubic feet, is divided by thirty-five, because a 

 ton of water is supposed to measui'e thirty-five cubic feet. Thus the 

 number of tons which the vessel can carry is obtained, not, however, 

 with exactness, because the ratio of thirty-five cubic feet to a ton of 

 water is only a rude approximation. 



If the other method be adopted, it will only be necessary to multiply 

 into one another the length, breadth, and heiglit expressed in metres 

 and centimetres, and the product will give the tonnage without any 

 further trouble and with perfect exactness, because a metrical ton is 

 the weight of a cubic metre of water. 



This remarkable facility is obtained through the care taken, in 

 constructing the meti'ical system, to adjust the weights, so that they 



