24 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1384 



ing. Metric reports are being prepared by the 

 United States Chamber of Commerce and the 

 National Industrial Conference Board. The 

 metric campaigiL is on in earnest and there 

 should and will be no let up until success is 

 won for North America. 



The annual meeting of the American 

 Metric Association for 1921 will be held in 

 Toronto on December 29. In view of the in- 

 portance of the movement in America, we 

 hope that a large number of the members of 

 the A. A. A. S. will reserve December 29 for 

 the program of the American Metric Associa- 

 tion. 



Howard Eichards, Jr., 



Secretary, American Metric Association 



The Obligatory Adoption of the Metric System 

 ty the Empire of Japan 



A telegram from Mr. SMrio Kikkawa, Director 

 of the Bureau of "Weights and Measures in Tokio, 

 brings the news of the passage hy the Japanese 

 Parliament of the law rendering the employment 

 of the metric system obligatory. The importance 

 of this event, significant in itself, becomes greater 

 in view of the fact that this settles the supremacy 

 of the metric system in the Far East and also 

 practically in the whole world. In Asia, legisla- 

 tive acts have, during the paat few years, paved 

 the way for a greater use of metric units and the 

 governments are now making these acts effective. 

 The work is pushed systematically in such a way 

 as to assure gradual expansion, thus avoiding mis- 

 takes and inconveniences. 



In Japan the metric system became legal on 

 January 1, 1893, and at the same time the value 

 of the old Japanese units, the shaku and the 

 kwan, were fixed respectively at 10/33 of the 

 meter and at 15/4 of the kilogram. The divisions 

 of these Japanese units were also decimal. Subse- 

 quently a series of modifications of this law, and 

 the promulgation of regulations, assured the in- 

 creased use of the metric measures leading up to 

 the time when their use should become obligatory. 



In China the law of August 29, 1908, has given 

 definite values to units which until then were 

 variable according to the localities and the trades. 

 The ch'ih and the liang have been fixed respec- 

 tively as 32 centimeters and 37.301 grams. The 

 metric equivalents are inscribed in the law; and 

 the subdivisions of these Cihinese units are also 

 entirely decimal. 



The law approved in 1913 by the Parliament of 

 Pekin prepares for the complete and obligatory 

 adoption of the metric system; a program of 

 preparation and partial adoption is annexed to 

 this law and leads, after ten years, to the obliga- 

 tory use of the metric system. 



Finally, in Siam, a law of 1912 prescribes the 

 obligatory use of the metric system with gradual 

 expansion from one province to another depending 

 on the time required to secure a sufScient number 

 of measuring devices and metric standards. 



As can be seen from the preceding paragraphs, 

 in all the Par East, the definite adoption of the 

 metric system is decided in principle; delays in 

 securing the general use of the metric system in 

 the Far East can now only postpone it for a few 

 years. 



On the other hand, the House of Eepresentatives 

 of the United States has before it a bill dated 

 April 11, 1921, introduced by Congressman Britten, 

 which will render the use of the metric system 

 obligatory for commercial transactions 10 years 

 after its passage. It is well to note that the ad- 

 versaries of the reform have heretofore considered 

 it a good argument that the Anglo-Saxon measures 

 were received in China, Japan, and Siam, having 

 almost the same standing as the local measures. 

 The promulgation of the new Japanese law re- 

 verses the sense of that argument. 



C. E. GUILLATIMB 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



THE PARIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



The Annuaire of the Academic des Sciences 

 for 1921 gives as usual a complete list of the 

 members, as well as of the foreign associate 

 members, the correspondents and the " aca- 

 demiciens libres." The annual also gives, as 

 it always does, the names and dates of the suc- 

 cessive presidents from the foundation of the 

 Academic des Sciences, as the First Class of 

 the newly organized Institut, on December 27, 

 1795, to the present time. At the close is an 

 alphabetical " Index Biographique " of all the 

 members and correspondents from 1795 until 

 1921. This covers nearly 200 pages (pp. 117- 

 314). It mentions a complete list of all the 

 prizes founded by or for the Academie. 



The necrology of the Academie for 1920, in- 

 cludes the following members: 



M. Armand Gautier, of the Section of Chemis- 



