494 



METRIC SYSTEM. 



square of which each side is ten meters in 

 length. 



The unit of solid measure is the stere, from 

 the Greek, acd is the cube of a meter, or, in 

 other words, a solid mass one meter long, one 

 meter broad, and one meter high. 



The unit of liquid measure is the liter, from 

 the Greek, and is the cube of the tenth part of 

 the meter, which is the decimeter, or, in other 

 words, it is a vessel where, by interior measure- 

 ment, each side and the bottom are square 

 decimeters. 



The unit of weight is the gram^ which is the 

 weight of a cubic decimeter of distilled water, 

 each edge of the cube being one one-hundredth 

 of a meter. The water must be weighed in a 

 vacuum, and to be at the temperature of great- 

 est density, viz : 4 centigrade or 39 12' Fahr- 

 enheit. Such are the main elements of the 

 metric system. But each of these has its mul- 

 tiples and its subdivisions. It is multiplied 

 decimally upward and divided decimally down- 

 ward. The multiples are derived from the 

 Greek. Thus, deca, ten ; hecto, hundred ; "kilo, 

 thousand; and myria, ten thousand, prefixed to 

 meter, signify ten meters, one hundred meters, 

 one thousand meters, and ten thousand meters. 

 The subdivisions are derived from the Latin. 

 Thus, deci, centi, milli, prefixed to meter signify 

 one-tenth, one-hundredth, and one-thousandth 

 of a meter. 



The system of weights and measures was at 

 first bitterly opposed in France, the people being 

 strongly attached to the old and imperfect sys- 

 tems ; and though the authority of the first Na- 

 poleon was used to establish it, the feeble and 

 inefficient Government of the Restoration did 

 not insist upon its use, and it was not until 1840, 

 when the authority of Louis Philippe was firmly 

 established, that it was made obligatory by the 

 laws of France. It has since been adopted 

 wholly or in part by Austria, Baden, Bavaria, 

 Belgium, Hamburg, Hanover, Hesse, Mecklen- 

 burg, the Netherlands, Parma, Portugal, Sax- 

 ony, Sardinia, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, and 

 Wiirtemburg. In Great Britain and Prussia it 

 is made permissive, and will soon be adopted 

 peremptorily as the national system. On July 



27, 1866, the Senate of the United States took 

 up and passed the following bills, which had 

 previously passed the House of Representatives, 

 and receiving the executive sanction, became 

 laws. It will be seen that they permit, but do 

 not actually require the use of the metric sys- 

 tem throughout the United States, in the post- 

 office department, and in all commercial inter- 

 course with foreign countries : 



A Bill to authorize the Use of the Metric System of Weights 

 and Measures. 



Se it enacted by the Senate and, .House of Represent- 

 atives of tJie United States of America in Congress as- 

 sembled, That from and after the passage of this act, 

 it shall be lawful throughout the United States of 

 America to employ the weights and measures of the 

 metric system ; and no contract, or dealing, or plead- 

 ing in any court, shall be deemed invalid, or liable to 

 objection, because the weights or measures expressed 

 or referred to therein are weights or measures of the 

 metric system. 



SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the tables 

 in the schedule hereunto annexed shall be recog- 

 nized, in the construction of contracts, and all legal 

 proceedings, as establishing, in terms of the weights 

 and measures now in use in the United States, the 

 equivalent of the weights and measures expressed 

 therein in terms of the metric system ; and said tables 

 may be lawfully used for computing, determining, 

 and expressing in customary weights and measures 

 the weights and measures of the metric system. 



MEASURES OF LENGTH. 



MEASURES OF SURFACE. 



METRIC DENOMINATIONS 

 AND VALUES. 



EQUIVALENTS IN DE- 

 NOMINATIONS IN USE. 



WEIGHTS. 



METRIC DENOMINATIONS AND VALUES. 



EQUIVALENTS TN T>R 

 NOMINATIONS IN TTSEj 



A more exact cxpreuion of the value of the meter In inchei and decimal! of an inch is 39.3685 inches. 



