150 REPORT — 1865. 



know how to give a decision, as there is nothing in the Bill to say whether deka- 

 metres, metres, centimetres, &c. are to he calculated from, should any dispute 

 arise. 



" In illustration of the evils that may occur from this, a trader's yearly purchases 

 of goods bought and sold by length, such as cloth, silk, satin, &c, are, say, 

 £389,000. He hopes to make a clear gain (after paying every expense of salaries, 

 rents, taxes, interest, &c.) of £1000 a year, which we will say he would do were 

 the schedule of metric and English equivalents correct. Now, accordingly as he 

 reduces his quantities from English into metric lengths, and vice versa, and buys 

 and sells and reckons in dekametres, metres, centimetres, &c, though he has done 

 exactly the same business, and bought and sold at exactly the same nominal 

 price, yet by using the Government schedule he may actually find his net profit 

 vary from £400 to £1600 per year. His net profit may vary (solely from the in- 

 correctness of the schedule) as follows. It mav be £400, or £420, or £435 16s., or 

 £436, or £700, or £702, or £702 2s., or £710, or £1000, or £1282, or £1282 18s., 

 or £1290, or £1300, or £1564, or £1565, or £1580, or £1600. To explain this more 

 fully, say that 3940 inches of best broad gold lace are sold to A, B, C, and 1) as 

 100,000 millimetres (which equivalent is correct according to the schedule). I 

 buy this from A, B, C, and D, but as 100,000 millimetres are equal to 10,000 centi- 

 metres, and these latter, according to the schedule, are equal to only 3937 inches, I 

 only pay for 3937 inches instead of 3940. Thus in buying I gain 3 inches of gold 

 lace through the schedule being incorrect. 



" Now in selling I just reverse the process, and sell only 3937 inches as 10,000 

 centimetres, which, according to the schedule, is likewise incorrect. These 10,000 

 centimetres, according to the schedule, would also be exactly equal to 100,000 mil- 

 limetres ; so that in selling I gain 3 inches. Suppose the average price (quoted in 

 English quantity) of the gold lace were £1 per inch ; then 



I buy 100,000 millimetres (3940 inches in reality) for £3937 

 And sell 10,000 centimetres (or 3937 inches) for 3940 



Thus gaining 3 inches and 3 



Three inches being worth £1 each would be 3 



Total gain 6 



" On the other hand, I might have lost £6 instead of gaining it, or a difference of 

 £12 might be -made for or against me. 



" In conclusion, I would strongly urge the advisability of investigating and cor- 

 recting the inaccuracy of the English equivalent of the metre, and the rectification 

 of the Government metric schedule before any further legal steps are taken to pro- 

 mote the metric system in this country." 



Intercommunication between Railway Passengers. By G. B. Galloway. 



On the Means of saving Life from Buildings which may be on Fire. 

 By G. B. Galloway. 



Suggested Improvements applicable to the City of London and other large 

 Towns, to improve Health and preserve Life. By G. B. Galloway. 



Statistics of the Small Arms Manufacture of Birmingham. 

 By J. D. Goodman. 



Prior to the close of the 17th century, at which time Macaulay states that the 

 population of Birmingham was only 4000, England obtained her supplies of arms 

 from the continent. In 1689, by the direction of William III., an opportunity was 

 given to the manufacturers of Birmingham to produce the flint-lock gun then in 

 use. The first trial of the skill of the Birmingham men having resulted satisfac- 

 torily, an order was afterwards transmitted to five manufacturers to provide 200 

 Snaphance muskets per month, for which they were to receive, on delivery of each 



