340 Comparison of British Standards of linear Measures. 
sures proposed in their Second Report, that Bird’s Parliamentary 
standard of 1760 should be considered as the foundation of all 
legal weights and measures, 
It may be Fees that the standard thus selected, differs so lit- 
tle, if at all, from that of Sir George Shuckburgh, that they may, 
for every purpose, be considered as perfectly identical’; and this 
agreement is particularly convenient, because the length of the mé- 
tre having been determined by comparisons with Sir Geo. Shuck- 
burgh’s seale, and a fac simile of it made by Mr. Troughton, for 
Pioiater Pictet, all measures on the Continent are a evaren 
into English measure, by a reference to Sir George Shuckburgh’s 
standard. 
In determining the figure of the earth, by means of the mea- 
surement of distant portions of the same meridian, many ano- 
malies have been remarked, which may, in some instances, be 
attributed to the difference of the standards employed in such 
measurements. As an example of the importance of this consi- 
deration, I shall examine the results deduced by Lieutenant- 
Colonel Lambton, from a comparison of three sections of the 
great are measured by him in India, with the lengths of the 
French, the English, and the Swedish degrees. ‘The abridge- 
ment of Lieutenant-Colonel Lambton’s very important operatigns 
mav be found in the Philosophical Transactions for 1818. 
The following are the data given by Colonel Lambton, 
The length of the degree due to 
Lat. 9°34’ 44” is 60472°83 fathoms. 
2 oD 60487°56 
16 34 42 60512°78 
By the French measurement, in 
Lat. 47 30 46. 60779 fathoms, 
By the English, in 
Lat, 52 2 20 60820 
By the Swedish, in 
Lat. 66 20 12 60955 
and by successively comparing the Jengths of the European de- 
grees with the three sections of the Indian are, Colonel Lamb- 
ton obtains for the ‘sralkeag os 
1 1 
By the Brench sooa9 30573 3067 31503 °9" Soots 
1 
310.28 si1-ao siso7 ™°*" Sisza 
1 
1 
§ Se) CA 
By the Swedish [5 305°14 305-72 310-72 mean 307°19 
By the English —— 
1 
and the mean of the three means = SORE 
