THE YARD, PENDULUM, AND METRE. 425 



unit types, available for the measurement of small lengths, 

 or for the small aliquots of a larger unit, has been found in 

 the cereal grains of most common use, and of these, the 

 barley corn, and the rice grain, have found the preference. 

 Our inch, for instance, has been defined in an old statute 

 (now repealed) as the length of three grains of barley, 

 taken from the middle of the ear, and placed end to end. 

 And in a somewhat similar manner have been derived 

 from those cereals the smaller sub-divisions of the Heb- 

 rews and Hindoos ; while the larger have, in these, as in 

 other nations, originated in parts of the human person. 



(6.) It is very evident, however, that types of this kind 

 admit of no precise and rigorous identification or inter- 

 comparison. The medium stature of a man is very dif- 

 ferent in different countries. That of an adult French 

 conscript for instance, is (or at least was in 1817) 5ft. 

 4in., as concluded from the measurement of 100,000 in- 

 dividuals, while the Belgian type, or mean adult stature, 

 has been placed at 5ft. yin. '8, and that of a Lancashire 

 non-manufacturing labourer, as high as 5ft. lofin. So 

 great a discordance as a result of local and secondary 

 circumstances, is of course fatal to the pretensions of the 

 human person as a natural type. So again of the cereals. 

 The difference of soil, climate, and cultivation must pro- 

 duce, and does in fact produce very great variety in the 

 medium size of grain grown in different countries, and 

 in different years : so that, even supposing them to be 

 measured by millions, the mean results would be found to 

 differ too much for the object in view. And the same 

 kind of objection holds good against having recourse to 



