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The International Metric System 



The essential features of this extraordinary system were embod- 

 ied in a report issued by the French Acad.of Sci. in 17 C H. By 1840 

 it became generally adopted in France and since that time has been 

 legalized or made compulsory in every civilized country throughout 

 the world. 



In 1864 it was permitted by the British Parliament, and in 1866 

 it was legalized by the American Congress. After 7 years deliber- 

 ation, in 1868 an act was passed by the Reichstag making the 

 system permissable at the beginning of 1870, and in spite of the 

 Franco-Prussian War it was made compulsory in Germany, Jan. 1, 

 1872. 



By 1870, in fact, the use of the meter as a basis of geodetic and 

 cadastral surveys had become so general throughout Europe that 

 a conference was called at Paris in that year for the purpose of 

 organizing a central bureau where the standards of the various 

 countries could be intercompared. As a result the International 

 Bureau of Weights and Measures was permanently established by- 

 general consent on neutral ground at Breteuil, near Paris, in 1875 

 and the U. S. became one of the seventeen signatory nations at that 

 time. 



The great advantages recognized by all people engaged 

 international or interstate commerce include : 



1. The decimal relation between the units, 



2. The extremely simple interrelation of the units of length, 

 area, volume and weight, and 



3. The uniform nomenclature and terminology. 



This system constitutes one of the greatest single benefactions 

 that has ever been contributed to international comity. The appli- 

 cation of science to industry and life will ultimately make it the 

 common standard of exchange between all people. Were it not for 

 the inertia of Russia, England and the U. S. this would even now be 

 an accomplished fact. So long as the individual States of America 

 regulate the units of measurement, progress is certain to be tedious. 



The Metric System has been widely used in every U. S. 

 Govt. Dept. except the Rectilinear Survey under the General Land 

 Office, where Gunter's Chain (66 ft.) has been used to the exclusion 

 of every other unit of measure. Gunter's Chain is rapidly going 

 into disuse, but where land is estimated in acres it is the best unit of 

 measure because area, expressed in square chains, is immediately 

 reduced to acres by moving the decimal point one place to the left. 



We use the Metric System extensively in our optical, chemical 

 and mechanical laboratories. To assist in popularizing the same, as 

 well as to facilitate commerce with our friends in Mexico, Central 

 and South America, we supply Tables of Equivalent* compiled 

 limn reports of the U.S. Bureau ot Standards and those extracted 

 from the American Civil Engineers' Pocket Book with the compliments 

 of Mansfield Merriman, Kd. in Chief. 



