MATTER AND ITS PROPERTIES 31 



It will be seen that there is very little relation between 

 these different numbers and that some of them are dif- 

 ficult to use as multipliers. This led the people of Europe 

 to adopt a different system of measurements known as 

 the metric system. 



The Metric System. At the time of the French 

 Revolution a commission was appointed in France to 



FIG. 24. Comparison of the Centimeter with the Inch. 



devise a system of measurements which would do away 

 with the existing confusion arising from the use of so 

 many different standards in different localities. The 

 system was adopted in 

 France in 1793 and has 

 since been adopted by the 

 governments of nearly all 

 the large nations except 

 England and the United ~ 

 States. In science, how- 

 ever, it is USed even by FIG. 25. Relative Size of Kilogram and 



these nations. Pound Weights - 



The meter is the standard unit of length of the metric 

 system. It is the distance between two transverse lines 

 ruled on a bar of platinum which is kept in the palace of the 

 Archives in Paris (Figure 23) . The Government of France 

 has made a number of copies of this bar and distributed 

 them among the principal governments of the world. Two 

 of them are kept in the Capitol of the United States at 



