THE METRIC SYSTEM. 731 



from a change in the radix of our numerical system, and some 

 advantages of the present might be lost. An increase in the 

 radix has been recommended for the greater power in computa- 

 tion it would afford, and its decrease has been advocated, even to 

 the extent of suggesting the use of the binary system in which 

 there is but one significant figure, on account of the consequent 

 great simplicity of all calculations. It seems almost certain, 

 however, that, "dictated by Nature," as it is, it will never be 

 changed, as the advantages on either side are small when com- 

 pared with the magnitude of the problem of a new radix. There 

 are some people who would defer any improvement in our system 

 of weights and measures until the decimal system of notation can 

 be wiped out and one with sixteen as radix substituted, so that if 

 Mr. Spencer was able to bring about such a change as he suggests 

 he would find that his favorite number, twelve, was not alone in 

 the field of candidates for adoption as the foundation of the new 

 notation. Indeed, it is a well-known fact that in the evolution of 

 number systems those not decimal have had their day, but none 

 have survived competition with the many advantages pertaining 

 to that growing out of the " bundle of ten fingers." 



In his fourth paper Mr. Spencer again resorts to quotation, and 

 brief reference should be made to the arguments set up by some 

 of his authorities. The letter of Sir Frederick Bramwell con- 

 tains some remarkable statements. His assertion that the new 

 system will require " more figures to perform ordinary sums than 

 on our present system, when rightly applied," is so grossly incor- 

 rect, as may be easily proved by a few examples, that no time 

 need be spent in controverting it. The same might be said of his 

 further assertion that it is more likely to lead to error, and, above 

 all, to the common error in placing the decimal point. This last 

 statement is frequently made, and it is worth while, therefore, to 

 call attention to the fact that in all ordinary business transac- 

 tions in which the decimal system is used, and in all calculations, 

 for that matter, the error of a misplaced decimal point is one of 

 the rarest of all errors. This is because of the generally quick 

 and certain detection of such a mistake. To misplace the deci- 

 mal point by the smallest possible amount is to change the result 

 tenfold, and usually so great an error is instantly detected by 

 means of approximate knowledge or other checks. Take our 

 own money system, for example : it is perfectly safe to say that 

 other mistakes are a million times more frequent than a persist- 

 ent, undetected misplacing of the decimal point. Yet, curiously 

 enough, considerable weight has been given to this objection to 

 the metric system of weights and measures, which is, on the con- 

 trary, vastly less liable to errors of computation than that now 

 in use. 



