April 7, 1892] 



NA TURE 



543 



EXAMINATION OF THE STANDARDS OF 

 MEASURE AND WEIGHT IMMURED IN 

 THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. 



A FORMAL examination of the standards of measure 

 and weight which are immured in the Houses of 

 Parliament was made on Saturday last, of which some 

 account may possibly interest our readers. 



In the "New Palace at Westminster" there were de- 

 posited in the year 1853 a copy of the "Imperial 

 standard of the yard measure " and also a copy of the 

 " Imperial pound weight." In the same year similar 

 copies of the Imperial standards were also deposited 

 with the Royal Society, at the Royal Observatory, and at 

 the Royal Mint respectively. Such copies of the standards 

 were deposited in accordance with the recommendations 

 of a Commission appointed in 1843 to superintend the 

 construction of new Parliamentary standards of length 

 and weight intended to replace the original Imperial 

 standards which were destroyed by the fire at the old 

 House of Commons in 1 834. The new Imperial standards 

 were subsequently legally recognized by the Act 18 and 

 19 Vict.,c. 72 (1855), and more recently by the Weights 

 and Measures Act of 1878. 



The Act of 1878 requires an inter- comparison of 

 the copies of the Imperial standards which are de- 

 posited with the Royal Society, and at the Royal Obser- 

 vatory, and the Royal Mint, to be made once in every 

 ten years ; and such inter-comparison has been recently 

 duly made under the directions of the Board of Trade. 

 It appears also to be practically necessary that the 

 standards immured at the Houses of Parliament should 

 be examined at certain intervals, examinations having 

 been made in the years 1865 and 1872; and the ex- 

 amination which was made on Saturday last in the 

 presence of the Speaker, the President of the Board of 

 Trade, and other representative authorities, was therefore 

 the first that has been made for the past twenty years. 



As yet we can make no reference to natural elements 

 for the values represented by such standards as those 

 above referred to. The earth's dimensions (as the ten- 

 millionth of a meridian), or a physical quantity (as the 

 lengthjof the seconds pendulum), cannot at present be 

 fixed or redetermined with sufficient accuracy for metro- 

 logical purposes ; and we have still therefore to rely on the 

 length and weight of certain arbitrary or material stand- 

 ards placed in the custody of selected authorities. As 

 all such material standards — whether made of iridio- 

 platinum, quartz, gold, or other accepted materials — are 

 liable to alteration by time or circumstance, it becomes 

 the duty of the custodians of such standards to assure 

 themselves from time to time that their standards are 

 unaltered, so far as any intercomparison of material 

 standards may afford evidence of their constancy ; and 

 such was the object of the examination on Saturday last, 

 when the Board of Trade had their standards compared 

 with those immured at the Houses of Parliament. 



The history of these Parliamentary standards may be 

 found in the classical contributions of the late Astro- 

 nomer-Royal, and Prof. W. H. Miller, to the Philosophical 

 Transactions of the Royal Society (Parts 1 1 1, for 1 856 and 

 1857) ; a history that has largely developed scientific in- 

 quiry in such direction, as may be instanced particularly 

 by the creation and work of the International Committee 

 of Weights and Measures at Paris. 



On Saturday the examination of the immured standards 

 was conducted by the officers of the Standards Depart- 

 ment of the Board of Trade, who, for the purposes of the 

 examination, had provided a microscopic-comparator 

 and a balance of precision. The comparator had in 

 it nothing new, and indicated differences of length ap- 

 proaching to oooooi inch, excepting that it was portable, 

 so that the comparison of the immured standard yard 

 with the Board of Trade standard might be then made 



NO. TI71, VOL. 45] 



at the Houses of Parliament without the risk of removal 

 from the building. It was, indeed, a condition of the 

 examination that the immured standards should not be 

 removed from the custody of the Clerk of the House. 

 The balance used indicated differences of weight ap- 

 proaching 00005 grain, although, unlike other balances 

 of precision, this balance was inclosed in a closely-fitting 

 copper case, so that disturbance by currents of air might 

 be avoided as far as possible whilst the examination was 

 being made. The mode of comparison of the yard 

 measure was that adopted by Baily and Sheepshanks in 

 1843-48, Gauss's method of weighing being followed; 

 and the temperature and atmospheric pressure were in- 

 dicated by instruments verified at the Kew Observatory. 



The immured standard yard, like the Imperial yard, 

 was found to be a bronze bar about 38 inches in length, 

 marked " Copper 16 oz., tin 2^, zinc i. Mr. Baily's metal. 

 No. 4 standard yard, at 61° 98 Fahrenheit. Cast in 1845. 

 Troughton and Simms, London " ; the length of the yard, 

 or of 36 inches, being determined by a straight line or 

 distance between two fine lines marked on gold studs or 

 plugs which were inserted at the bottom of two holes or 

 wells at about half an inch below the surface of the bar. The 

 bar was found to be supported on bronze rollers, placed 

 under it in such manner as best to avoid flexure of the bar. 



The immured pound weight, like the Imperial pound, 

 was found to be a cylinder of platinum about i"35 inch in 

 height and i'i5 inch in diameter, having a density of 

 2 1 • 1 5 1 6 ; and being (in 1 856) 0003 1 4 grain lighter than the 

 Imperial standard deposited with the Board of Trade. 



Both standards were placed in mahogany boxes ; the 

 pound weight being wrapped in Swedish filtering paper, 

 and inclosed in a silver-gilt case, which was further in- 

 closed in a solid bronze box. The mahogany boxes were 

 inclosed in a leaden case, which was re-inclosed in a 

 sealed oak case. 



Although the actual result of the examination on 

 Saturday could not then be made known to those pre- 

 sent, it was stated that the immured standards were 

 found to be in the same condition as when they were 

 previously examined in 1872, and were to all intents and 

 purposes unchanged since their original deposit in 1853. 

 The official report of the Board of Trade, which will be 

 shortly issued, will state the full particulars of the ex- 

 amination. 



After the comparisons of the standards had been com- 

 pleted, the immured standards were replaced within the 

 oak case, which was then replaced in an inclosure or 

 cavity prepared for it in a recess under a blank window 

 on the right-hand side of the second landing leading from 

 the lower waiting hall up to the Commons Committee- 

 rooms ; the rabbet of the inclosure was then covered 

 with lime putty, the front stone being inserted and 

 driven into close contact with the rabbet so covered, 

 liquid plaster of Paris being poured in so as to fill all 

 the joints of the front stone. 



We are glad to see from a paper recently laid before 

 both Houses of Parliament that the Board of Trade also 

 possess authoritative copies {prototypes nationaux) of the 

 international standards of the metre and kilogramme ; 

 and that metric weights and measures— now also of the 

 highest importance in this country — may be accurately 

 verified by comparison with such standards. 



NOTES. 

 Mr. Balfour is expected to make a statement in the House 

 of Commons this evening about the Royal Commission to which 

 the question of a Teaching University in London is to be 

 referred. He hopes to be able to give the terms of the reference 

 as well as a complete list of the members of the Commission. 



