40 TRANSACTIONS. igOO-I 



standard Troy pound of 5,760 grains. 



Reverting now to our question — What is a yard, what is 

 a pound — it will become evident on a moment's reflection, 

 that there is and can be only one single absolute material 

 yard and pound in a country, and that is the particular mark- 

 ed bar and mass of metal described in the Act as being the 

 standard yard and pound respectively^. All other yards and 

 pounds are derivatives and, as such, are approximations to 

 the standards and are invested with errors, be they ever so 

 minute. 



By 42 Victoria, c. 16, s. 4, the Dominion standards of 

 measure and weight are the yard, the pound, and the troy 

 ounce, as represented by a certain bronze bar and platinum- 

 iridium weights deposited at the Department of Inland 

 Revenue, in the custody of the Minister of Inland Revenue. 



All other Dominion weights and measures are derived 

 from the above. The grain is declared the one-seven- 

 thousandth part of a pound, the ounce the sixteenth part, 

 hence epuivalent to 437)^ giains, while the troy ounce shall 

 contain 480 grains. 



Careful reading of the statute will show that we have 

 two different standard troy ounces. In the one section, the 

 troy ounce is the weight of a certain mass of platinum- 

 iridium. In the form of a truncated cone, marked " A " and 

 deposited at the Department of Inland Revenue. Its absolute 

 weight as expr^-ssed in some other unit is a matter of measur- 

 ment and, as such, of approximation. By another section it 

 is defined as being 480 grains, the grain being the one-seven- 

 thousanths of the standard pound, as represented by the 

 cylindrical mass of patinum-iridium, marked " A " deposited 

 at the Department of Inland Revenue. The two definitions 

 are incompatible. We cannot declare two material things as 

 standards and at the same time declare an absolute numerical 

 relationship between the two ; i.e.^ how many times one is 

 the measure of the other. Hence, the material troy ounce, 

 marked '' A," above referred to, is quite unnecessary as a 



