1901-2 TRANSACTIONS. 47 



not looked upon as a practical constant for re-determining a 

 fundamental unit. All quadrants of the earth are not equal, 

 for the earth is not a perfect figure of revolution. 



Furthermore, a material unit, no matter on what constant 

 in nature is bassed, or with what degree of percision it has 

 been obtained, can only become a legal unit by statute. The 

 statute alone gives finality, and not scientific determinations, 

 to a measure as a standard. 



To make this point clear, it may be said that the metric 

 system would have lost none of its value had the French 

 Academy of Sciences adopted as the unit of length an 

 arbitrary unit as that of some properly constructed bar, which 

 might for convenience have represented the toise or yard. 



The merit of the metric system is, above all, its sim- 

 plicity, and this is based on the two elements : (i) That all 

 the weights and measures are inter-related and dependent upon 

 one unit — the meter ; and (2) That all the multiples and sub- 

 multiples are tens. 



The decimal system is the great saver from " the brain- 

 wearying, intellect-destroying system of weights and measures 

 in use among English-speaking people," as Lord Kelvin has 

 so justly characterized the latter. 



It is not believed that any one would for a moment ques- 

 tion the desirability of adopting a system were we to begin 

 de novo based on a single unit with derivatives by the powers 

 of ten. The theoretical superiority of such a system is so 

 manifest that it need not further be pursued. 



However, for the purposes of life, we have to deal with 

 the question from the practical and not from the theoretical 

 stand point. 



One of the most exhaustive reports on weights and mea- 

 sures, including the metric system, was written by the Secre- 

 tary of State, John Quincy Adams, in 1821. 



As we in Canada have not yet adopted the metric system, 

 although it is a legal measure, the question presents itself — is 

 it desirable, is it expedient, is it beneficial to replace the 



