204 CorrrspoiidenCi'. [April 



sity. "But the arithmetical disadvantage," in the language of the eminent 

 President of Columhia College, Professor Barnard, "is by no means the 

 whole, or even the greater part, of the evil which this state of things pro- 

 duces. A much niDre grave consideration is the fact that it interposes an 

 effectual bar to the intelligent interchange of thought. It renders it im- 

 possible for an American to converse understandinglj with an Austrian on 

 any subject involving quantities of any description. It makes it impossi- 

 ble for an American to derive instruction from an Austrian book or maga- 

 zine or iournal where quantities are mentioned ; or an Austrian from an 

 American. This is an enormous evil, and as it exists not in this quarter 

 only, but everywhere, the world has crying need of its removal."* 



In times when communication between nations was of rare occurrence, 

 incommensurability of unit bases was not dreaded as at present. But 

 imagine the impediments to commerce that must have arisen from this 

 soui-ce in Europe during the early part of the present centin-y- The unit 

 of measure known as the foot was 11.62 inches in Rome; 13.68 in Lom- 

 bardy ; 23.22 in Lucca ; 9.76 in Avignon; 10.57 ^"^ Rouen; 14.05 in Bor- 

 deaux; 11.33 in Rostock; 19.21 in Geneva; 9.25 in Wesel ; 10.S9 in 

 Bavaria; 13.12 in Carlsruhe ; 10.S6 in Brussels; 11.28 in Liege, etc. Is it 

 to be wondered at, then, that these people, to again use the words of 

 President Barnard, "in looking about for a common system, and finding 

 the metric s^'Stem to be an existing S3^stem, and a good system, and, above 

 all, an available system, and the only one available for the purpose, .... 

 should have seized upon it, and legalized it, and made it permanent, with- 

 out too anxiously concerning themselves with the questions whether the 

 metre would not have been better if it had been a little longer or a little 

 shorter, or if it had represented something different from what it does 

 represent," etc. "Men of science have adopted this system, not only 

 because of their approval of its principles, but because it is a labor-saving 

 machine of immense capabilities." 



Owing to the vast size of our own country we did not so soon feel the 

 need of this reform, but our commercial relations with other powers are 

 so extensive that our Government, eighteen years ago, legalized by act of 

 Congress the use of the metric system in business transactions. It has 

 been formally adopted by nearly all civilized nations, and has proved a 

 far greater boon than even its most earnest advocates were led to expect. 



A glance at the scientific journals of the day shows that this system is 

 in vogue in all parts of the world, not only among physicists and chemists, 

 but also among naturalists. Even in the United States it is largely em- 

 ployed by mammalogists, osteologists, palaeontologists, herpetologists, and 

 ichthyologists ; by those engaged in the study of our invertebrates, and by 

 botanists. Why then should American ornithologists, who desire and 

 profess to keep abreast of the progress of knowledge in their department, 

 permit themselves to postpone the acceptance of this most useful addition 

 to their armamentarium by the continued employment of a scale of linear 



* The Metric System of Weights and Measures. By F. A. P. Barnard, S. T. D.^ 

 LL. D. New York, 1872, pp. 28-29. 



