March 4, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



389 



in regard to the real character of Mr. Long's 

 efforts to reveal ' a vast realm of nature out- 

 side the realm of science ' in ' ideas above 

 and beyond the world of facts ' ? 



Frank M. Chapman. 

 Ameeican Museum of Natural History. 



the metric system. 

 To THE Editor op Science: It is now years 

 since the metric system has been authorized 

 and permitted in this country and yet very 

 little progress has been made in its practical 

 introduction. "We still labor with the old 

 system. We can never tell in statistics or 

 contracts what a ton of coal means (long or 

 short) unless it is explicitly stated. And so 

 in water analyses, they are stated in three or 



pints, and a gallon four such quarts, and a 

 peck eight such quarts, and a bushel thirty- 

 two such quarts, and no other measure of 

 volume shall be permitted, the distinction 

 between fluid and dry measure being abol- 

 ished. 



3.* The U. S. standard foot shall be the 

 length of the edge of a cube which shall con- 

 tain 1,000 U. S. standard ounces of water 

 under certain conditions of temperature and 

 pressure, i. e.., 62.5 U. S. standard pints. The 

 popular use of the terms would not need be 

 changed at aXl, and the actual change of units 

 would be so slight (ten per cent, or less) that 

 it would not popularly be noticed, as may ap- 

 pear from the following table: 



.984 



foot 



Metric. 

 1 metric ton. 

 J Kilo., German 'Pfund.' 

 ^\ Kilo. =31 J grams. 

 2 liter. 

 1 liter 

 32 liters. 

 4 " 

 ■ 251^2 cm- 

 315 cm. 



four different ways, so that it is hard to com- 

 pare them. Even if we know they are in 

 grains per gallon, it remains to be determined 

 whether the gallon is imperial or U. S. 



Allow me to suggest a method of intro- 

 ducing the metric system which might meet 

 much less friction and meet all practical pur- 

 poses. 



The proposed legislation would be as fol- 

 lows: 



1. On and after January 1, 1906, the U. 

 S. standard ton shall be the metric ton, which 

 shall contain 2,000 U. S. standard pounds, 

 each of which shall contain 16 U. S. standard 

 ounces. ISTo other ounce, pound or ton 

 weights, or weights puriJorting to be fractions 

 or multiples thereof, shall be used under 

 penalty. 



2. The U. S. standard pint shall be the 

 volume of one U. S. standard pound of pure 

 water under certain conditions of tempera- 

 ture and pressure, and shall be equivalent to 

 one-half liter. A quart shall be two such 



Moreover, the old proverb, ' A pint is a 

 pound the world around,' will be strictly true, 

 and in water analyses a nickel's weight in a 

 pint will be the same as an ounce per cubic 

 foot and, specific gravity apart, the same as 

 parts per thousand. 



Especially in ending the long wrangle over 

 various tons, I think the proposed changes 

 would be decided improvements, and the dif- 

 ferences between wet and dry measure should 

 be abandoned. Alfred C. Lane. 



SEX DETERMINATION IN BEES AND ANTS. 



In Science for December 25, 1903, Pro- 

 fessor W. M. Wheeler characterizes as lacking 

 in critical caution and ' apodictic ' the state- 

 ment that ' the egg of the bee, if unfertilized, 

 invariably develops into a male, but if fertil- 

 ized into a female.' If Wheeler's objection is 

 directed merely against the form of this state- 

 ment and not against its general content, if 

 he desires merely the eradication of the word 



* This is not so essential to the scheme. 



