THE METRIC SYSTEM OF WEIGHTS AND 

 MEASURES.* 



The metric system of weights and measures had its origin 

 in France during the Revolution in the year 1790. The fol- 

 lowing year a commission of scientific men was appointed 

 by the government to select an appropriate unit, and as the 

 result of their investigations the ten-millionth part of the 

 earth's quadrant was chosen and called a Metre. To deter- 

 mine the unit of weight a cube of pure water at its greatest 

 density, each edge of which is one-hundredth of a metre, was 

 taken and called a Gramme (anglicized gram). The mul- 

 tiples and subdivisions were made to correspond to the deci- 

 mal scale, hence its great simplicity. 



This system was declared obligatory in France after Nov. 

 2, 1801; but no penalty was attached to non-conformity 

 until after Jan. 1, 1841. The system has since been adopted 

 wholly or in part by Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Holland, 

 Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Mexico, 

 Guatemala, Venezuela, Ecuador, U. S. of Columbia, Brazil, 

 Chili, San Salvador, and the Argentine Republic. In 1866 



* The following article on the Metric System of Weights and Measures was 

 prepared for this work by S. A. Felter, A.M., author of a well-known series 

 of mathematical text-books. 



